Border-crossing repertoires of contention: Palestine activism in a global justice context

Abstract

ABSTRACT On 7 July 2005, a global call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) was declared against the state of Israel until it abides by international law and principles of human rights. Since that time, BDS has become a popular form of collective action for Palestine. Expanding on Charles Tilly’s original conceptualization of contentious repertoires, this paper argues that BDS advances the issue of Palestine into broader progressive frameworks, such as global justice, through the ways the movement makes claims (repertoire) and the object of its claims (targets). In particular, there are intersections through frames of justice, corporate complicity, and human rights, tactics of boycott and divestment, and decentralized, horizontal, and networked organizational forms, along with similar targets. These parallel repertoires and targets create a bridge between groups, which allows BDS to build its movement and enables the movement to move forward the Palestinian cause into broader global justice contexts.