Settling Nature

"This remarkable book expertly covers a neglected part of the planet’s most commented-on conflict, the central role of nature protection in Palestine-Israel. Combining rich empirics and eye-opening theoretical insights, Irus Braverman presses a highly ‘unsettling’ yet profoundly important point: how the conservation of critical more-than-human natures sits at the heart of many of the most consequential and distressing power struggles of our time."—Bram Büscher, author of The Truth about Nature: Environmentalism in the Era of Post-truth Politics and Platform Capitalism

"Irus Braverman’s fascinating account of the formulation and enforcement of conservation policies in Palestine-Israel examines a series of cases that exemplify tensions that emerge around attempts to conserve species, landscapes, and ecosystems. As it illuminates the environmental and political history of Palestine-Israel, Settling Nature will also engage those interested in the conflicts surrounding conservation movements in many other places."—Harriet Ritvo, author of The Animal Estate: The English and Other Creatures in Victorian England
 

"Settling Nature is a necessary read for all who are interested in justice, human rights and a livable planet. Written in fluid, easy to follow language that weaves stories with facts, the book is also fun to read."—Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

"Settling Nature is an excellent and accessible book that politicises nature conservation in the context of a settler colonial project, while shining a light on its complexity and diverse forms."—Animals Studies Journal

"Settling Nature is a brilliant and astute examination of how nature is entangled with technologies of colonial violence and dispossession in Palestine-Israel and beyond. Ultimately, the book demonstrates the hubris and violence of colonial binaries—nature–culture—and repeatedly calls for more-than-human perspectives to unsettle settler ecologies."—The AAG Review of Books

"A pathbreaking book that is required reading for anyone wishing to understand historical and contemporary developments in nature conservation as linked to nationalism and (post)colonial state formation."—South African Journal of International Affairs

"Braverman’s careful situating of her own positionality corresponds with one of [Settling Nature]’s main claims: without thorough analysis of the strategies Israel has used to erase Palestinians and their connections to the land, ‘the settler can emerge as the authentic native, in turn rendering the newer native inauthentic and even invisible.’ From such a vantage point, Braverman seems to argue, no creator can afford to remain behind the scenes. Visibility becomes a critical mode of resistance that transforms the discipline of environmental studies into an activist effort."—The Markaz Review