Migration is often examined as either an international experience or as rural to urban movement. Migration in Palestine fits neither of these models, but rather displays its own distinct migration flow and pattern. This is due to restrictions on mobility within the Palestinian territories, which in turn have limited economic potential and dramatically altered the Palestinian economy as a whole. In the past, these migration flows have been to outside the Palestinian territories. A more recent adaptive strategy is for Palestinians to move internally to Ramallah, a town quickly emerging as the de facto capital of the Palestinian territories, and as such, the economic and cultural center of the West Bank. Among these recent Ramallah migrants is the population under examination: highly educated, single young women from various parts of the West Bank. The presence of these young women indicates the extent to which restrictions on Palestinian society have begun to alter gender roles and behaviors among Palestinian women, as these women exert themselves in a new social and economic space removed from patriarchal households. The project examines the ramifications of the changing Palestinian economy for women by exploring the ways in which the act of migration, and of living away from home, transforms household roles, relationships and young women's identities. The focus on the scale of the migration and on the unique gendered aspects of it is a primary research goal. Methods employed will be semi-structured interviewing in Arabic of the young women themselves, their families and other key informants. The interviews will be supplemented with participant observation.
This doctoral dissertation research combines ideas and theory from feminist geography, migration studies, and Middle East areas studies. The emphasis is on understanding how gender and other power relations are constituted at varying scales such as the household, civil-society, the nation-state and the global economy. Palestinian women live in a constantly changing political atmosphere, which can vary from day to day and even hour to hour, and an in-depth examination of their lives will inform migration and gender studies at large. Little attention has focused on single Palestinian women, or on the ways in which their internal migration choices and outcomes are conditioned by the larger context of political restraints on mobility. This new migration pattern is an opportunity to study the relationship between gender and migration in conjunction with the formation of place-based identities and constructions of home and household. The case study of Palestinian women has much to teach about how current patterns of migration form and are influenced by factors beyond an individual's control, although they can still illustrate a route to women's empowerment and mobility. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a student to establish a strong independent research career.
