Political consumerism in conflict economies: Food sovereignty organising in the occupied Palestinian territory

Political consumerism, or consumer-citizen collective action, is a political market strategy to increase local well-being through sovereignty. Such strategies have relevance to transformative consumer research but are scantily researched in developing and conflict economies. This project focusses on political consumerism in food sovereignty initiatives. These are manifest communities of agricultural production, everyday resource allocation and consumption that do not rely on mainstream markets and supply systems. Our project brings together an international interdisciplinary team to explore the spaces and actors that seek to empower economic self-regulation and self-sufficiency in Palestine, a territory experiencing continuing conflict despite of a lengthy attempted peace process. Using a participatory research design, we dissect what keeps collective action going in context of limited resources, systemic oppression and socialised opposition. We highlight how political consumerism initiatives under occupation and a politico-economic system of double marginalisation can span over time and locations of activism. The case of Palestine illustrates consumer activism for food sovereignty connected to the legacy of the first and second Intifadas, the current hostilities and a period of a global health pandemic. Practical outcomes relate to connecting and engaging across these marginalised communities to foster practices of successful resistance, that is, collective action toward securing sustainable social and environmental outcomes in emerging economies within conflict zones.