Mayors in the Middle - (Columbia Studies in Middle East Politics) by Diana B Greenwald (Paperback)

About the Book

Through a historically informed, empirically nuanced analysis of towns and cities across the West Bank, Diana B. Greenwald offers a new theory of local government under indirect rule.

Book Synopsis

What does local self-government look like in the absence of sovereignty? From the beginning of its occupation of the West Bank in 1967, Israel has experimented with different forms of rule. Since the 1990s, it has delegated certain governing responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority (PA), an organization that, Israel hoped, would act as a buffer between the military occupation and the Palestinian population.

Through a historically informed, empirically nuanced analysis of towns and cities across the West Bank, Diana B. Greenwald offers a new theory of local government under indirect rule--a strategy that is often associated with imperial powers of the past but persists in settings of colonialism and state-building today. Grounded in fine-grained data on municipal governance under occupation as well as interviews with Palestinian mayors, council members, staff, activists, and political elites, this book traces how the Israel-PA regime has influenced the constraints and incentives of Palestinians serving in local government. Mayors in the Middle demonstrates that both the indirect rule system itself--as embodied in local policing arrangements--and the political affiliation of Palestinian mayors shape how politicians will govern. This variation, Greenwald argues, depends in part on whether local Palestinian governments are perceived as intermediaries within or opponents of the regime. Although Palestine is often treated as exceptional, Greenwald draws illustrative parallels with British colonial India and South Africa's apartheid regime. A groundbreaking study of Palestinian local politics, Mayors in the Middle illuminates the broader dilemmas of indigenous self-government under systems of exclusion and domination.

Review Quotes

Mayors in the Middle is a crucial, timely text. In this meticulously researched account, Greenwald outlines the ways in which local politics has played a role in the Palestinian national movement. Using cutting edge quantitative and qualitative data, she skillfully demonstrates how the Israeli state has created a unique type of indirect rule in the West Bank--affecting both the day-to-day lives of Palestinians and the trajectory of their struggle for self-determination.--Dana El Kurd, author of Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine

With nuance, rigor, and fascinating revelations based on original data collected in the West Bank, Greenwald offers an analysis of how Palestinian mayors navigate the challenges of being stuck in the "middle" of Israeli occupation, Palestinian nationalist aspirations, and the pragmatic needs of local constituencies. Her book is the first comprehensive account of how these 'mayors in the middle' develop a political logic for survival that avoids both full cooperation with the Israeli government and complete defection from Palestinian parties such that they may still meet the practical needs of civic life in the West Bank. Using deeply moving interviews and granular local election data, this book is a valuable contribution to the field of Palestinian studies and the thriving body of research on comparative local governance strategies.--Nadya Hajj, author of Networked Refugees: Palestinian Reciprocity and Remittances in the Digital Age

Greenwald breaks new ground by delving into the consequences of Israeli indirect rule in the West Bank. Analyses of original data demonstrate how Fatah mayors try to overcome the reputational damage of cooperating with Israel by refraining from extraction and boosting debt-financed spending. Meanwhile, opposition municipalities exhibit superior revenue raising capacities and more efficient distributive policies. Mayors in the Middle is an important addition to the literature on Palestinian politics.--Melani Cammett, author of Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon

In a work of meticulous scholarship, Greenwald uses 'indirect rule, ' both historically and theoretically, to offer an unprecedented study of municipal governance in the Israel-dominated West Bank. She complements a thorough quantitative analysis of revenue and spending patterns with fascinating accounts of in-depth interviews. Her volume documents the corrupting results of Israel's instrumentalization of the Palestinian Authority while explaining surprising successes Hamas-affiliated mayors and local councils have had in mobilizing their constituencies. This valuable book highlights both the barriers to Palestinian agency and its potential.--Ian Lustick, author of Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality

About the Author

Diana B. Greenwald is an assistant professor of political science at the City College of New York.