| Summary: | <p>A central but understudied aspect of the period following the Oslo peace process in 1993 is the rise of a native Palestinian business elite, which have been playing an important role in the political, economic, and social spheres in the West Bank. This thesis focuses on an important group within the indigenous elite—the industrial elite in Hebron, a governorate that has been under-researched despite constituting the industrial and commercial hub of the West Bank. Informed by a political economy approach, this dissertation critically examines how Hebron’s industrial elite accumulated and concentrated their capital, within a larger context of occupation, de-industrialisation, and absence of a sovereign state.</p>
<p>Drawing on extensive field research, I make three arguments. First, I argue that the development of Hebron’s industrial elite has been driven by dependency relations established by Israel in 1967 and reconfigured following the Oslo accords. I highlight how Hebron’s elite concentrated their capital after Oslo, through business relations with Israeli capitalists and informal linkages with Israeli officers. These alliances, rooted in dependency relations, have represented a network of privileges and have been a necessary condition for business growth after Oslo. Second, I argue that the structure of dependency that has tied the interests of the population to Israel, has been an integral part of Israel’s continuously evolving counter-insurgency strategy, which has sought to co-opt the population and coerce them into acquiescence to ensure stabilisation. Third, through a critical examination of U.S.-led Trade Facilitation Programmes (TFPs), I examine the role of the U.S. in reinforcing capital concentration in Hebron, by distributing privileges to certain actors, while reinforcing dependency relations with Israel. I also reveal how TFPs have recently introduced a new condition for business growth by requiring beneficiary businessmen to become counter-insurgency actors, managing an ‘anti-terror’ infrastructure and a self-surveillance regime under Israel’s control.</p>
<p>Overall, the case study of Hebron’s elite provides a unique prism through which to see the complex assemblage of Israel’s overt and subtle technologies of colonial management. It also contributes to a more critical understanding of elite development in the Global South and provides new insights into the evolving practices of the emerging global security paradigm.</p>
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