Extreme budgeting case study. When Public Budgeting and Reforms Meets Settler Colonial Power: A Case of Palestine

Activity: Talk or presentationInvited talk

Description

When Public Budgeting and Reforms Meets Settler Colonial Power: A Case of Palestine

Dalia Abdulmuti Alazzeh (University of the West of Scotland)

Shahzad Uddin (University of Essex)

Abstract

This paper focuses on public budgeting and its reforms in Palestine set in a peacebuilding context. We aim to evaluate how these reforms in public budgeting in Palestine have been in disarray in the context of disruptions, destructions and war. Previous studies have examined budgeting in uncertain contexts. Our empirical examples demonstrate extreme conditions such as financial controls since 1993, two major wars, uprisings, and severe controls of population and lands by Israel that has diminished any possibility of reforms being successful in Palestine.

We draw on settler colonialism to understand the nature of the relations between Israel and Palestine and its implications on public budgeting and reforms. We witnessed attempts by Palestinians to achieve statehood and international recognition immediately crashed by Israel’s suspensions of revenues to Palestine, leading to budget failures and financial crises. These examples illuminate how budgeting reforms face an uphill battle in the context of settler power over local populations. Reforms attempted to address corruption and inefficiencies never had any chance to bring about the necessary changes.

Keywords: Budgets, Settler Colonialism, Palestine, and Israel, NPFM
Period20 Nov 2024
Held atUniversity of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Degree of RecognitionNational