Constructing a “Wall”: Discursive Fields, Social Movements, and the Politics of the [Wall/Barrier/Fence]

Emily Regan Wills

Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2016, vol. 31, issue 3, 305-318

Abstract: The [wall/barrier/fence] built by Israel near the Green Line has produced a new object around which political actors, especially those engaged in contentious politics around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, can use to focus and shape their language and actions. Using the notion of discursive fields, this paper examines the use of the three terms wall, fence, and barrier among social movement actors from Israel, Palestine, and elsewhere to describe the object, arguing that the difference between wall-discourse and fence-discourse marks out separate discursive faces that embody different sets of assumptions about the conflict, relevant actors, and normative priorities. It also argues that, while barrier-discourse tries to stake out a ground outside this binary, its reception by those engaged in other discourses negates the attempt.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2016.1174596

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