This research explores Palestinian refugee women’s political rights through a broader examination of the gender dynamics in one refugee camp in Lebanon. Using two focus groups and individual interviews with 20 women, the research highlights the patriarchal and colonial structures that dominate the women’s lives, preventing them not only from engaging in political activities, but also hindering their opportunities for work and socialization outside their immediate familial spheres. The political disillusionment within the researched and broader Palestinian community, as a result of the encroaching project of Empire as defined by Hardt and Negri, has created a divided Palestinian cause, a failed youth, and a society attempting to hold on to its identity. However, along with that comes the oppression of a sub-section of that society – the women; the remaining possession that the men have. Women who previously engaged in armed resistance have not advanced politically, socially, or economically – and in fact the history of their struggles are being erased as surely as their land is. Nonetheless, pockets of resistance – a Multitude – of women, agents in their own fates, are fighting the current towards a more emancipatory future for themselves and future Palestinian men and women.

This study aims to account for variation on women’s political empowerment in localities during wartime. I draw upon political ideologies and civilian-armed group interaction literature to argue that gender ideologies could explain why some conflict-affected areas have more women’s political empowerment than others. I argue that gender egalitarian ideologies in armed groups leads to specific organizational structure and political discourse where women are allowed to take leadership and political-related roles within the armed groups. More specifically, I argue that gender egalitarian armed groups not only encourage women to take public roles within their group but also to engage in politics in communities under their territorial control through four strategies: ideological meetings, penetration of social and political organization, establishment of social behaviors and infiltration in electoral politics. I test this argument using quantitative sub-national data looking at territorial control of non-state armed groups and number female mayor candidates in Colombia from 1997 to 2007. I expect that guerrilla areas, are more likely to have more female candidates compared with paramilitary areas. Surprisingly, I found an opposite direction, where paramilitary areas have more female candidates compared with guerrilla areas. I offer an alternative explanation based on the qualitative sources in order to account for the unexpected findings.

This research explores Palestinian refugee women’s political rights through a broader examination of the gender dynamics in one refugee camp in Lebanon. Using two focus groups and individual interviews with 20 women, the research highlights the patriarchal and colonial structures that dominate the women’s lives, preventing them not only from engaging in political activities, but also hindering their opportunities for work and socialization outside their immediate familial spheres. The political disillusionment within the researched and broader Palestinian community, as a result of the encroaching project of Empire as defined by Hardt and Negri, has created a divided Palestinian cause, a failed youth, and a society attempting to hold on to its identity. However, along with that comes the oppression of a sub-section of that society – the women; the remaining possession that the men have. Women who previously engaged in armed resistance have not advanced politically, socially, or economically – and in fact the history of their struggles are being erased as surely as their land is. Nonetheless, pockets of resistance – a Multitude – of women, agents in their own fates, are fighting the current towards a more emancipatory future for themselves and future Palestinian men and women.

This research explores Palestinian refugee women’s political rights through a broader examination of the gender dynamics in one refugee camp in Lebanon. Using two focus groups and individual interviews with 20 women, the research highlights the patriarchal and colonial structures that dominate the women’s lives, preventing them not only from engaging in political activities, but also hindering their opportunities for work and socialization outside their immediate familial spheres. The political disillusionment within the researched and broader Palestinian community, as a result of the encroaching project of Empire as defined by Hardt and Negri, has created a divided Palestinian cause, a failed youth, and a society attempting to hold on to its identity. However, along with that comes the oppression of a sub-section of that society – the women; the remaining possession that the men have. Women who previously engaged in armed resistance have not advanced politically, socially, or economically – and in fact the history of their struggles are being erased as surely as their land is. Nonetheless, pockets of resistance – a Multitude – of women, agents in their own fates, are fighting the current towards a more emancipatory future for themselves and future Palestinian men and women.