My dissertation monograph answered a series of geographic questions. How do Palestinian sustainable agricultural knowledges and practices serve their struggles for sovereignty? To answer this, two further questions arise: 1) What role has sustainable agricultural science and development played in settler colonialism in Palestine since the nineteenth century? and 2) How have agricultural science and development co-produced racial and gendered identities and definitions of indigeneity in Palestine over time?
I am currently expanding on the themes of my dissertation through my book project, which explores the transnational connections between theorizing sustainability in Palestine and California.
I am currently expanding on the themes of my dissertation through my book project, which explores the transnational connections between theorizing sustainability in Palestine and California.
Settler colonialism through agricultural science in Palestine and California.
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An article based on my historical research connecting the settler colonization of California and Palestine through scientific agriculture was recently published in the Journal of Political Ecology. It's available open access! This paper was the 2023 winner of the Political Ecology Society's Eric Wolf Paper Prize.
Kirk, Gabi. 2024. “‘A Fairly Good Crop for White Men:’ The Political Ecology of Agricultural Science and Settler Colonialism between the US and Palestine.” Journal of Political Ecology 31 (1): 888–908. https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.6132. I delivered a talk based on this article, "The political ecology of agricultural science and settler colonialism between the US and Palestine," virtually with the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department's Disasters, Displacement, and Human Rights webinar series in May 2024. You can watch the recording here. |
Indigeneity and agrarian capitalism in Palestine.
Another article, based on my ethnographic research, was published in Historical Materialism in a special issue on "Race and Capital" in 2023.
Kirk, Gabi. 2023. “Commodifying Indigeneity? Settler Colonialism and Racial Capitalism in Fair Trade Farming in Palestine.” Historical Materialism 31 (2): 236–68. https://doi.org/10.1163/1569206x-bja10013.
A non-paywalled version can be found published on the Historical Materialism website.
I also spoke about the post-October 7 implications of my research on Historical Materialism's podcast in December 2023. Check out the episode (also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc).
Kirk, Gabi. 2023. “Commodifying Indigeneity? Settler Colonialism and Racial Capitalism in Fair Trade Farming in Palestine.” Historical Materialism 31 (2): 236–68. https://doi.org/10.1163/1569206x-bja10013.
A non-paywalled version can be found published on the Historical Materialism website.
I also spoke about the post-October 7 implications of my research on Historical Materialism's podcast in December 2023. Check out the episode (also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc).