The Revolution Within
State Institutions and Unarmed Resistance in Palestine

Using original, difficult-to-gather survey data, Zeira advances a new theory of participation in anti-regime protest that focuses on the mobilizing role of state institutions.

Yael Zeira (Author)

9781108459129, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 October 2019

240 pages, 13 b/w illus. 10 tables
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.36 kg

'… the book provides a compelling account of a key period of Palestinian resistance and a strong case for looking beyond the role of internal and autonomous organizations and networks to consider state institutions as potential incubators and generators of popular mobilization for mass unarmed resistance, especially in authoritarian environments.' Roger Baumann, Mobilization

Why do some individuals participate in risky, anti-regime resistance whereas others abstain? The Revolution Within answers this question through an in-depth study of unarmed resistance against Israeli rule in the Palestinian Territories over more than a decade. Despite having strong anti-regime sentiment, Palestinians initially lacked the internal organizational strength often seen as necessary for protest. This book provides a foundation for understanding participation and mobilization under these difficult conditions. It argues that, under these conditions, integration into state institutions - schools, prisons and courts - paradoxically makes individuals more likely to resist against the state. Diverse evidence drawn from field research - including the first, large-scale survey of participants and non-participants in Palestinian resistance, Arabic language interviews, and archival sources - supports the argument. The book's findings explain how anti-regime resistance can occur even without the strong civil society organizations often regarded as necessary for protest and, thus, suggest new avenues for supporting civil resistance movements.

1. Introduction
2. The rise of anti-regime resistance
3. Educational institutions and participation in resistance
4. Disciplinary institutions and participation in resistance
5. Beyond state institutions: civil society and the coordination of resistance
6. Conclusions
7. Methodological appendix.

Subject Areas: Demonstrations & protest movements [JPWF], Comparative politics [JPB], Sociology [JHB], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]