Roundtable meetings

Mr. Whitman explained how the Palestinian society has become an urbanized society, specifically in and around the Ramallah and Hebron areas, as a result of the designation of Areas A, B, and C in the Oslo Accords of 1993.

In this roundtable meeting, Professor Schmitter addressed the different modes of transition from an autocratic government  into a democratic one, with emphasis on the Arab Spring.  

Dr. Puar spoke about her book Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times, in which she discussed the emergence of what she termed homonationalism--the co-production of gay and lesbian rights, consumer entitlements, circuits of mobility, and livable lives with the simultaneous delimitation of the mobility and rights of racialized bodies, in particular those bodies racialized as "terrorist." For instance, after 11/9 there appeared an anti-Muslim sentiment where anxiety about terrorist bodies was apparent. 

Mr. Gangat shed light on the book which is a series of 30 stories each of which has something to say about what happened in South Africa. He also spoke of his experience as a diplomat.

The research project investigates Palestinian refugees’ imaginaries, practices and attitudes towards the right of return in Lebanon, Jordan and the West Bank. The research departs from classic scholarly approaches to the concept of “return” to show how refugees in their everyday practices and lived experiences strategies reconcile “integration” in the host country with return. 

Prof. Harrell explained the two ways in which refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention can be ended. The first is in a refugee re-avails him or herself of the protection of his country of origin; the second is when refugees of a particular nationality are deemed no longer in need of international protection because of the 'ceased circumstances’ in their country of origin.