Civility as collective self-care in Nablus (Palestine): face-to-face interactions in the shadow of war

The inhabitants of the Palestinian city Nablus in West Bank, which has been under Israeli military rule since 1967, practice bottom-up civility to shape public life spite political rights being denied them. As most institutional forms ‘civil society’ are deeply distrusted, everyday among Palestinians dynamically reacts occurrences violence. Based on ethnographic fieldwork 2013 and 2014, this article argues that constitutes a medium for addressing ethical questions about how live together dignity midst repressive opaque landscape. such, can be understood as form collective self-care. People laterally discipline one another embody piety their face-to-face interactions express respect victims by hiding signs consumption market transacions. In an enclosed community facing repression, claims agency calls decentering common understandings civil society.