Description
Rehabilitation of the physical space is usually perceived as a common good, seeking to return the damaged environment to its previous state. This paper seeks to problematize this understanding by relating the practices of reconstruction to sovereign power and to show how they can work towards maintaining and even strengthening control and dominance. Drawing on the materialist conceptualizations of sovereignty, I propose that reconstruction in the wake of large-scale destruction is crucial for (re)established state presence, power and influence via material practices. The paper then investigates these dynamics with reference to the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip and the efforts to rehabilitate Gaza after the repeated Israeli onslaughts that resulted in the gradual degradation of its physical environment, and by extension social relations engendered by this environment, over the two decades. I argue that via the restrictions on import of building materials and overall influence over the shape of the rebuilding of Gaza, Israeli state authorities have severely undermined the Palestinian sovereign aspirations. In turn, this has strengthened Israeli sovereign control and rule over the Palestinians. The paper thus demonstrates that reconstruction policies should be studied more closely with regards to what political projects they facilitate and which ones they prevent.
