In this article, I interrogate the dynamic of discursive projections of resilience in the policy circles of hegemonic development and foreign aid institutions. The discussion is animated by two key questions: first, how does resilience projection operate? And second, for what purposes? These questions will be pursued by examining the EU’s approach to resilience and the associations it makes between resilience and the Palestinian concept of sumud.
This focus on the resilience-sumud relationship is particularly helpful to understand the practice that projects exogenous notions onto local concepts and practices because the meaning of sumud is well-developed in the Palestinian context and resonates in the Arabic-speaking world. The interplay between sumud and resilience illustrates a general practice of co-optation and capturing of local practices and concepts into hegemonic international discourses and interventions.
Cite as: Badarin, Emile, and Tobias Schumacher 2022. “The Eastern Mediterranean Energy Bonanza: A Piece in the Regional and Global Geopolitical Puzzle, and the Role of the European Union.” Comparative Southeast European Studies 70.3: 414-438.
