The Colonizing Self (Or: Home and Homelessness in Israel/Palestine)


Please note that capacity is limited in the venue. As pre-booking arrangements have proved ineffective, we now intend to offer the 10 available seats on a first come, first served basis. Once capacity is reached, additional people will be turned away. Please arrive early to secure your place. All attendees must scan in using the NHS QR code provided by the college. COVID-19 Safety Information: If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, please do not attend this event. We encourage attendees to wear a face covering at all indoor OSGA events unless exempt. We encourage attendees to respect social spacing, by leaving the seat next to them free, where possible and to use handwashing and hand sanitisation facilities regularly. We request that attendees, particularly those who are not double vaccinated, perform LFD tests before attending OSGA events. All attendees at St Antony's College events must: Take a lateral flow test on the morning of the event - if positive, stay at home; Stay home if you feel unwell; Wear a face covering where indicated; Be considerate of other people’s space; Wash your hands regularly with soap or sanitiser. The latest University guidance on the use of face coverings should be checked and followed: unless exempt, you are asked wear one while moving around indoor spaces, and where possible, while seated, particularly during larger events. Attendees are asked to use the official NHS QR code posters displayed throughout the College site. College general COVID guidance can be found here: https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/staff-update. Attendees need to have one of: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination status; Registration (via NHS app) of a negative Lateral Flow Device test (LFD test) taken in the last 48 hours; or Proof of natural immunity via a positive PCR test taken within 180 days of the event, but following the 10-day isolation period.

In this talk, based on her book, The Colonizing Self, Kotef explores the cultural, political, and theoretical apparatuses that enable people and nations to construct a home on the ruins of other people’s homes or to feel that they belong to spaces of dispossession. Moving from analysis of contemporary Israeli TV shows to theorizations of settlers’ violence in the West Bank, Kotef examines the affectual conditions of settler colonialism. She tries to understand how, in conditions of systematic, prolonged violence, people develop attachment to the violence they inflict on others.