Religion and Identity in the Palestinian North Atlantic: Chicago, Copenhagen, and Oslo

Since the first Intifada, Palestinian identities have undergone significant transformations in response to the collapse of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, a failed peace process, and Islamist political mobilization. How have these processes affected Palestinians in North Atlantic diaspora contexts? What trajectories have Palestinian identities followed in these settings? How have they diverged or overlapped in response to the recurring, devastating violence in Palestine? How have the conditions within distinct diaspora locations in the North Atlantic shaped these trajectories?

In this talk, author of Identity and Religion in Palestine: The Struggle between Islamism and Secularism in the Occupied Territories (Princeton 2007) and Palestinian Chicago: Identity in Exile (California 2020), Dr. Loren Lybarger draws on recent ethnographic research in Chicago, Copenhagen, and Oslo to offer preliminary answers to these questions, which remain pressing and relevant in this dire moment.