Spatial constraints, environmental hazards and Bedouin in Israel: towards spatial conceptualization of a changing Indigenous society

We examine the prevalent issue of political, economic, social and cultural conditions of Indigenous groups in Western states as spatial constraints when they choose to stay put in their birthplace, even under conditions of environmental hazard. These constraints are imposed upon them by the government, the enveloping dominant culture and their own internal cultural codes and social structure. These issues are examined among two unrecognized Bedouin villages in Israel susceptible to industrial environmental hazards. The various spatial constraints are interpreted as spatial bars that become thicker under the environmental hazard. In conceptualizing this unique situation, we propose the concept of confining space that dwells within the wider conceptualizations of production of space and time.