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Water, power, and refusal: confronting evasive accountability in a Palestinian village
Author(s) -
McKee Emily
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of the royal anthropological institute
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1467-9655
pISSN - 1359-0987
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9655.13082
Subject(s) - accountability , sovereignty , dismissal , context (archaeology) , scholarship , power (physics) , political science , economic shortage , public administration , law , political economy , sociology , government (linguistics) , geography , politics , archaeology , physics , quantum mechanics , linguistics , philosophy
This article interprets the meanings and motivations of refusal to pay water bills within a context of fragmented sovereignty. Residents of a village in the occupied Palestinian West Bank call for solutions to water shortages and failed infrastructure, but do so amidst capricious power, where would‐be sovereigns evade accountability. Lacking avenues for direct engagement with authorities, residents speak in generalized ethical terms of their legitimate water claims, and they resort to bill refusal. Setting villagers’ bill refusals within the broader set of interactions between would‐be sovereigns and subjects, this article contributes to anthropological scholarship on refusal by demonstrating how it can be a way of not only dismantling state power, but also summoning a responsible sovereign. Furthermore, it highlights how common dilemmas faced by refusers – dismissal and co‐optation – can be exacerbated by the same evasive accountability against which they protest.