Palestinian Erasure and Dehumanization in Introductory Sociology Texts

Abstract

Settler colonial projects erase Indigenous peoples and their histories to justify expropriation of sovereign land. Educational curriculum plays a central role in settler colonialism by denying both long-standing connections to the land and dehumanizing those on it, relegating them to objects to be controlled or assimilated by colonizers, positioned as the colonized land’s rightful owners. This has long been the case for Palestinians. Violent expulsion from their land began with the settler colonial Zionist project in the late-19th century, a time of global colonization, and continues into the present, alongside the denial of Palestinian subjectivity and ‘permission to narrate’ their own history in public, political, and academic discourses. This paper examining US-based college-level introductory sociology textbooks finds that they replicate and perpetuate colonial narratives through Orientalist ascriptions and Palestinian de-Indigenization, while eliding the settler colonial and apartheid conditions under which they live, thereby contributing to the settler project themselves.

Publicly Underrepresented Genocides of the 20th and 21st Century: A Review

“…Lastly, Weiner [73] argues that introductory sociology textbooks tend to dehumanize Palestinians and erase their existence, perpetuating the Israeli state's narrative of erasure and denial of Palestinian rights. The author analyzes six popular sociology textbooks used in US universities and finds they ignore the Palestinian perspective entirely or depict them as violent, irrational, and unworthy of sympathy or recognition [73].…”

“…Lastly, Weiner [73] argues that introductory sociology textbooks tend to dehumanize Palestinians and erase their existence, perpetuating the Israeli state's narrative of erasure and denial of Palestinian rights. The author analyzes six popular sociology textbooks used in US universities and finds they ignore the Palestinian perspective entirely or depict them as violent, irrational, and unworthy of sympathy or recognition [73]. Weiner further argues that these textbooks complicate the erasure and dehumanization of Palestinians and call for a more inclusive and critical approach to teaching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in sociology classes.…”

“…Weiner further argues that these textbooks complicate the erasure and dehumanization of Palestinians and call for a more inclusive and critical approach to teaching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in sociology classes. Finally, he suggests that a more balanced and nuanced approach is needed to agitate the dominant narrative and promote a better understanding of the complex realities of the historic conflict [73].…”