"Matter out of place" : Humanitarianism and the construction of national identities: the cases of Palestinian and Sahrawi refugees

Abstract: This thesis examines the tension between humanitarianism and nationalism byfocusing on the Sahrawi and Palestinian refugee cases. These cases represent a challengeto both nationalism, which presupposes national identity as being congruent with theestablished political borders and rooted within their limits, and the claim of neutrality, asnot favoring any side in an armed conflict or dispute and bearing no national allegiance.Firstly, Palestinians and Sahrawis, while claiming a nation without land, have created anational identity in up-rootedness, and express political fights that are nurtured by thevery humanitarianism. Secondly, the refugee camp, as a humanitarian product, has beenaccused of depoliticizing and reducing life to mere survival, and I will explore how it hasparadoxically become a hyper-politicized space providing the grounds for nationalidentities and national claims to develop. For Palestinians and Sahrawis, I will argue,humanitarian interventions are in fact the very reason for politicized identities to arise.