The DDGC collective is hosting an ongoing reading group featuring texts that help us think with artists and academics with vital insights about Palestine. The next installment of the group will feature two texts: Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa” (1970) and Michael Rothberg’s The Implicated Subject: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators (2019).

Kanafani is known as one of the most important modern Palestinian writers and political figures. “Returning to Haifa” counts as one of his most well-known texts. It details the struggles of a family broken by colonial violence in the aftermath of the Nakba. 

From the website description about Rothberg’s book: “When it comes to historical violence and contemporary inequality, none of us are completely innocent. We may not be direct agents of harm, but we may still contribute to, inhabit, or benefit from regimes of domination that we neither set up nor control. Arguing that the familiar categories of victim, perpetrator, and bystander do not adequately account for our connection to injustices past and present, Michael Rothberg offers a new theory of political responsibility through the figure of the implicated subject.”

The reading group will meet online. Each participant will find their own way to a copy of the texts we read. They should be available through your institutional libraries, available for purchase through your independent bookstore, and in other venues. If you have a hard time finding a copy of the reading materials, reach out to one of the organizers. 

In order to sign up for the reading group, fill out the form below. Space will be limited and advanced registration is required. Please register by June 6, 2025.

Meeting Schedule

• Meeting 1: Wed, June 11, 10am Pacific Time – Kanafani (“Returning to Haifa”)

• Meeting 2: July 16, 10am Pacific Time – Rothberg (Introduction + Part 1)

• Meeting 3: August 6, 10am Pacific Time – Rothberg (Part 2)

• Meeting 4: August 27, 10am Pacific Time – Rothberg (Part 3 + Conclusion)

Organizer Contact

Jason Groves (jagroves[at]uw.edu)

Ervin Malakaj (ervin.malakaj[at]ubc.ca)

Adrienne Merritt (adrienne.merritt[at]colorado.edu)