Human Surplus and the Politics of Exclusion: Reframing Refugeeism in Gaza

Abstract

The investigation into what cultures consider garbage, its management, and the underlying values of power structures explains the concept of discard studies by examining the cultural, economic, and environmental effects of waste and discard practices. Discard studies is a metaphor for understanding how immigrants and refugees are treated by exposing the systematic marginalisation and exclusion of particular individuals, things, and activities. The current study engages discard studies, especially the works of Susan Strasser and Robin Nagle, along with Achille Mbembe's concept of necropolitics to illustrate how Dervla Murphy's narrative documents the structural production of refugee disposability in Gaza. A Month by the Sea: Encounters in Gaza is an authentic examination of how certain communities and individuals are systematically excluded and marginalized, akin to waste in society. Discard studies provide a distinctive perspective on how communities value and devalue human life in general and immigrant and refugee life in particular. Like the waste examined in discard studies, immigrants and refugees frequently find themselves on the periphery of society. Often located in inhospitable environments, refugee camps symbolize ‘wastelands’ and portray harsh realities such as border controls, denial of basic rights, and confinement in overcrowded camps. Literally like items that occupy a position between being useful and being garbage, immigrants and refugees occupy a place between being welcomed and being excluded. Through Murphy’s narrative observations of everyday life in Gaza, the study demonstrates how environmental degradation, infrastructural breakdown, and political containment collectively contribute to the production of refugee disposability. Discarded populations' ability to withstand and fight their enforced marginality is profoundly reflected in the way the physical, psychological, and socioeconomic aspects of being discardable are intricately woven into the fabric of life for refugees in Gaza. By positioning Gaza within the framework of discard studies and necropolitics, the paper argues that refugeeism can be understood as a condition produced through geopolitical structures that manage and regulate surplus populations.