Moderated by Stéphanie Latte-Abdallah, CNRS
Abstract
From the 1830s-1840s, European colonial projects in the " Holy Land ", with their civilizing aims, paved the way for various colonialist currents, notably Zionism. The ambition of this panel is to reflect on the nature of Zionism and its articulation with European expansionist projects of the 19th century. How should we understand Theodore Herzl's project ? How did it evolve to distance itself from European colonialism ? Did it serve the interests of the European powers ?
Speakers:
- Rina Cohen-Muller, INALCO : The European Powers and Palestine in the 19th century : emergence of a political entity ?
- Kamel Lorenzo, Università degli Studi di Torino : Zionism, anti-Zionism and beyond.
- Michaël Séguin, Saint-Paul University : Pour une relecture décoloniale du récit de vie de Shimon Peres : Zionist pioneer or European colonizer ?
Rina Cohen Muller
Rina Cohen Muller is a lecturer in the Department of Hebraic and Jewish Studies at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO).
Lorenzo Kamel
Lorenzo Kamel is Professor of History at the University of Turin, where he teaches global history, colonial and post-colonial studies, and the history of the Middle East and North Africa. He is the author of Imperial Perceptions of Palestine. British Influence and Power in Late Ottoman Times (2015), The Middle East from Empire to Sealed Identities (2020), as well as History Below the Global. On and Beyond the Coloniality of Power in Historical Research (2024).
Michaël Séguin
Michaël Séguin is Assistant Professor and Director of the School of Leadership, Ecology and Equity at Saint Paul University (Canada). His work focuses on the evolution of political Zionism as a colonial movement, the implicit Islamophobia experienced by Muslim managers in Quebec, and diversity management policies and practices in Canadian universities and community organizations. He has published in the International Journal of Comparative Politics, the Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, Ad Machina, Politique et sociétés, the Revue internationale de cas en gestion, Sociologie et sociétés, Recherches qualitatives and Cahiers d'histoire.
Stéphanie Latte Abdallah
Stéphanie Latte Abdallah is Director of Research at the CNRS (CéSor/EHESS), a political anthropologist and historian specializing in Palestine, the Middle East and contemporary Arab societies. Her recent research focuses on borders, carcerality and prisons in Palestine/Israel. She is interested in emerging citizen mobilizations linked to alternative economies, autonomy, ecology and concrete utopias in Palestine and Lebanon. She coordinates the IMAGIN-E research program. Her two most recent books are La toile carcérale. Une histoire de l'enfermement en Palestine (2021, in English : 2022) and Des morts en guerre. Rétention des corps et figures du martyr en Palestine (2022). With Véronique Bontemps, she edited Gaza. Une guerre coloniale (2025).
