1 The Social Sciences Research in Palestinian Territories The Dilemmas of the Production of the Research Outside of the Universities Sari Hanafi, Associate Professor American University of Beirut I. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 II. Research Structure in Palestinian Territory .......................................................................................... 2 III. Research Community ........................................................................................................................... 3 IV. Context of Emerging NGO Status’s Research centers: the Formation of the New Globilized Elite ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4 V. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 7 VI. Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 8 I. Introduction There are almost forty-two centers involved in research activities within Palestinian territories. This number is relatively large for such a small geographical area. The mushrooming of research centers is related to the proliferation of the phenomenon of Palestinian Non Governmental organizations. These NGO’s, which emerged in a context of society with state, were governed since 1967 by the Israeli occupation, but have continued in their development even after the arrival of the Palestinian National Authority. This abundance is not just specific to the Palestinian context, but to the context of any developing countries in which the International community conceived the aid in order to promote the recipient’s local civil society. What I will argue in this article that the relationship between university and research cannot be understood outside of the relationship between society, State and Market. The market here indicates not only a local market but International one because of the aid system and its power structure between recipient and receiver. This article will thus question the research centers which has the status of an NGO and unaffiliated with academic institutions and the consequences of research production by such centers. This study will be based on two previous research programs: one concerning the donors funding to research activities 1 , and the other, a research program that I coordinated, concerning the relationship between donors, International organizations and Palestinian NGO’s focusing on agenda-setting, and networking between global and local. 2 This study will also shed light on the role of researchers as a new elite, hereby qualified as ‘globalized elite’, that has access to the international arena (sectoral UN 1 The fieldwork was conducted in the framework of the Research project ESTIME. The ESTIME project (Evaluation of Scientific and Technological capabilities in MEditerranean countries) aims at the description of the scientific and technological capabilities in 8 research partners countries of the Mediterranean (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestinian Territories). The project will contribute at the closer links between the European research space and the Mediterranean research space by providing precise indications on research, technological development, and innovation in the Mediterranean countries, supported by empirical investigations and a thorough revision of sources of information. ESTIME is a project of The Institut de Recherche pour le Développement – IRD Unité de recherche « Savoirs et Développement » 2 The research on this program are conducted by me and Linda Taber and end by the publication of a book. See (Hanafi, Tabar, 2005).