I Don’t Know Who Was the Reason for This War, But I Know Who Paid the Price: Unpacking Marginalized Positionalities in the Contemporary Yemeni Civil War

Abstract: This thesis explores the lived experiences of Yemeni individuals with marginalization in context of the contemporary civil war. Experiences on the margin are approached from a multifaceted framework which allows for a contextual understanding of how Yemeni bodies face social, political and economic exclusion. In-depth semi-structured interviews with seven Yemeni individuals provide this study with empirical data to inquire what it means to be on the margin and how hegemonic power structures embedded in the Yemeni regime perpetuate such marginal positions. This research sheds light on the complex negotiation tactics employed by marginal Yemeni bodies to interact with current regimes of oppression. The participants’ individual acts of resistance vis-à-vis the status quo demonstrate how power structures are constantly contested rather than passively experienced. This study employs a three-dimensional theoretical framework focusing on regimes of disorder, peripheralization and everyday resistance to challenge essentialist depictions of the current conflict. Thereby, this study offers an alternative space for marginal Yemeni bodies to make sense and to ultimately reconceptualize the current conflict through the lens of bodily regulation, socio-spatial differentiation and elite politics.