Israeli Society
JUDS0870 (x-lists: Anthropology & MES)
Brown University - Spring 2010
1:00 pm - 1:50 pm MWF Sayles Hall 200
Professor Marcy Brink-Danan
Marcy_Brink-Danan@brown.edu
Office hours Monday 2:15-4:00, 163 George St/Corner of Brook
By taking an anthropological approach to Israeli society and culture, this course focuses
on the social, economic, political, and immigration factors shaping the lives of Israelis
today. As an introduction to the present conditions of those living in Israel today, we
trace the ideological foundations of political Zionism and the establishment of the State,
increasing ethnic diversity, the changing Arab minority, gender, sexuality, patterns of
socioeconomic development, political and religious divides, war, terrorism and the
military.
We will discuss these issues in critical relation to stories told by Israelis and by scholars
who analyze these social experiences. To this end, we will invite scholars and “regular”
Israelis to join our class discussions on a number of occasions. As such, this course
balances academic criticism and analysis with our own engagement with Israeli social
productions (as evident in speech, film, music, literature, art, clothing and other
symbolic realms).
This course will be part of an ongoing experiment in creating a semi-paperless course.
Class assignments will be completed and submitted online to a course folder on our mycourses
page. All required reading for the course will be available online in the form of articles in PDF
or online books. For some e-books you may need a plug-in that you can download from the
ebrary site. If you prefer to read off-line, these books are, of course, available for purchase at
your favorite bookseller and/or at the library.
Note: You are NOT required to read all articles and book available on our class’ e-reserves –
only those marked on the syllabus. The others are resources for further study and especially
useful for class presenters and final projects.
The syllabus, readings, assignments, messages and folders for this course can be accessed on
mycourses.brown.edu (formerly “WebCT,”) under the name “Israeli Society.” Our course
password for OCRA is “sabra.” If you have technical difficulties, please contact the computer
help desk: 863-HELP.
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
1
Student Responsibilities
Your successful participation in this class is contingent upon completion of the following:
Class Participation (in class and/or online) (15%)
It is understood that students will keep up with all readings and films. If a student is absent, it
is his/her responsibility to get notes from peers and/or watch the films viewed in class. One of
the best ways to prepare for class discussion is to write a paragraph synopsis (or thought-piece)
of the readings as you complete them. Each student must post 3 questions or comments for
general viewing on our “my courses” page 24 hours prior to each class meeting.
Presentations by Groups of Expertise (G.O.E.) (10%)
Everybody comes to this class for a different reason and with various goals in mind. Because
this class covers such a broad range of topics, students will be required to become “experts” in a
chosen topic through extra attention to the readings. As such, after shopping period, the class
will be divided into “groups of expertise” (G.O.E.) that take responsibility for deeper knowledge
of one section of the material presented. They are expected to work together outside of class in
order to prepare an oral and/or visual review of their findings (to be presented to the class).
Throughout the course, all students will be responsible for submitting 3 questions to our
course website (at latest) the day before class meets; these may be the starting point for the
G.O.E.’s review.
Two Short Exercises (to be assigned by professor) (3-4 pp each) (10% each)
Final Project (10-15 pp) (45%)
The final project will be an extension of your growing expertise in a set of questions about
Israeli society. Many of the issues covered in this class reckon with Israel’s social “problems”
(democracy, ethnic discrimination, religious coercion and secularism, economic disparity, etc.).
As part of your final paper assignment, you are to choose a problem that most concerns you and
explore the background and present status of this issue. This might take the form of a literature
review (what has been written about the topic). Another angle might include contacting an
Israeli, American or international organization which attempts to tackle your chosen problem
and conducting an interview/collecting materials and then reporting on their obstacles and
successes. I am open to creative proposals! You will gain valuable research experience through
this project and I will work with you throughout the semester to ensure that you are accessing
useful materials for your particular analyses. You must submit an outline/1-2 paragraph
abstract for your final project on 2/15.
There are no exams for this course
Late papers will be graded down.
Papers submitted more than 5 days after the due date will not be accepted.
All references quoted or otherwise cited in assignments should follow anthropology citation
standards (see: http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.htm)
* Note: I highly recommend taking advantage of the Writing Center to edit your papers before
you submit them to me. Papers are graded on content and style, argument, clarity, etc.
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
2
Class Meeting Times and Schedule:
The semester has been divided into sections according to themes explored in the class.
Some themes will recur throughout the readings, but the focus of each section will be as
follows:
Section 1. Introduction
Section 2. Foundational Ideologies: Zionism, “Aliyah,” Settlement & the Sabra
Section 3. Natives, Immigration and the “Ingathering of the Exiles”
Section 4. Religion and Secularism
Section 5. Ethnic Divisions
Section 6. Arabs in Israel, Israeli Arabs, Palestinians
Section 7. Military Service and Violence
Section 8. War and Holocaust Commemoration
Section 9. Economic Changes
Section 10. Gender and Sexuality
Section 11. Israeli Popular Culture
Section 12. “Yordim:” The Israeli Diaspora/Israelis Abroad
Section 13. Israeli Multiculturalism
Additional topics (not covered in the class, but suggested as Final Project topics) include:
architecture and social space; archaeology of Israel; Diaspora relations; post-Zionism; art and
photography; theatre; peace, conflict and diplomacy, etc.
For each section, required readings are listed following class date;
Suggested readings (especially useful for the G.O.E.s) are in italics.
** Indicate assignment handed out or due.
Date listed indicates date by which the reading must be completed.
Syllabus subject to revision.
Section 1. Introduction
Class 1. 1/27 Introduction
Class 2. 1/29
-Border Crossings: American Interactions With Israelis (1995)
(Shahar, L. e-book).
Class 3. 2/1
-Finish Border Crossings.
*Assignment 1 Posted*
Section 2. Foundational Ideologies: Zionism, “Aliyah,” Settlement & the Sabra
Class 4. 2/3
-Invention and Decline of Israeliness : Society, Culture and the Military. Kimmerling, Baruh
(ebook) Chapter: Introduction
-Herzl, Theodore
Introduction to “The Jewish State” (1896) Online Resource
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
3
- Berkowitz, Michael. Nationalism, Zionism and Ethnic Mobilization of the Jews in 1900 and Beyond
(e-book).
-Rubinstein, Elyakim
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS A BASIC DOCUMENT OF
THE STATE OF ISRAEL, Israel Studies 3(1) 1998
-Israeli Declaration of Independence - online link on my courses
Class 5. 2/5
-Kimmerling, Baruh Chapter 1 The Mythological-Historical Origins of the Israeli State: An
Overview
-Zerubavel, Yael
THE ZIONIST RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PAST, IN: Recovered Roots: Collective
Memory And The Making Of Israeli National Tradition (1994)
Section 3. Natives, Immigration and the “Ingathering of the Exiles”
Class 6. 2/8
-Kimmerling, Baruh Chapter 2 Building an Immigrant Settler State
-Lissak, Moshe THE DEMOGRAPHIC-SOCIAL REVOLUTION IN ISRAEL IN THE
1950s, Israel Affairs 2003
Class 7. 2/10
-Kimmerling, Baruh Chapter 3 The Invention and Decline of Israeliness
-Zerubavel, Yael
THE “MYTHOLOGICAL SABRA” AND JEWISH PAST: TRAUMA, MEMORY AND
CONTESTED IDENTITIES, Israel Studies 7(2) 2002
*Assignment 1 Due*
Section 4. Religion and Secularism
Class 8. 2/12
-Kimmerling, Baruh Chapter 4 The End of Hegemony and the Onset of Cultural Plurality
-Liebman, Charles THE NEW CIVIL RELIGION, IN: Civil Religion In Israel /1983
-Rebhun, Uzi
MAJOR TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISRAELI JEWS: A SYNTHESIS OF
THE LAST CENTURY, IN: Jews In Israel : Contemporary Social And Cultural Patterns 2004
Class 9. 2/15
*(Submission of Final Project Topic [1-2 paragraph abstract])*
-Kimmerling, Baruh Chapter 6 The Cultural Code of Jewishness: Religion and Nationalism
-El-Or,Tamar
The Ultraorthodox Flaneur: Toward the Pleasure Principle. Consuming Time and
Space in the Contemporary Haredi Population of Jerusalem in Carmeli, Yoram
S.(Editor). Consumption and Market Society in Israel. 2004
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
4
-Tabory, Ephraim
THE INFLUENCE OF LIBERAL JUDAISM ON ISRAELI RELIGIOUS
LIFE, Israel Studies 5(1) 2000
- Mezvinsky, Norton Jewish Fundamentalism In Israel 1999 (e-book)
Section 5. Ethnic Divisions
Class 10. 2/17
-Kimmerling, Baruh Chapter 5 The Newcomers
-Golden, Deborah
"NOW, LIKE REAL ISRAELIS, LET'S STAND UP AND SING:" TEACHING
THE
NATIONAL LANGUAGE TO RUSSIAN NEWCOMERS IN ISRAEL, Anthropology
And Education Quarterly 2001
Class 11. 2/19
- Weingrod, Alex
EHUD BARAK’S APOLOGY: LETTERS FROM THE ISRAELI PRESS, Israel
Studies 3(2) 1998
- Weissbrod, Lilly
SHAS: AN ETHNIC RELIGIOUS PARTY, Israel Affairs 2003
- Bilu, Yoram; Eyal Ben-Ari
The Making of Modern Saints: Manufactured Charisma and the Abu-Hatseiras of Israel
American Ethnologist, Vol. 19, No. 4, Imagining Identities: Nation, Culture, and the Past.
(Nov., 1992)
2/22 No class, university long weekend.
[see Film: Sof ha olam, smola: Left at the End of the World] (on OCRA)
2/24-3/5 Independent work on final project.
Project prospectus with provisional bibliography due 3/7.
Section 6. Arabs in Israel, Israeli Arabs, Palestinian-Israelis, Druze, Bedouin
Class 12. 3/8
-Kanaaneh, R. Birthing the Nation 2002 (e-book) Chap. Intro-III
Class 13. 3/10 -Kanaaneh IV- Conclusion
*Assignment 2 Posted*
Class 14. 3/12
Film: The Syrian Bride (HaKala Ha Surit)
-Sa'ar, Amalia
CAREFULLY ON THE MARGINS: CHRISTIAN PALESTINIANS IN HAIFA
BETWEEN NATION AND STATE, American Ethnologist 25(2) 1998
-Abu-Saad, Ismael THE EDUCATION OF ISRAEL’S NEGEV Bedouin:
BACKGROUND AND PROSPECTS, Israel Studies 2(2) 1997
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
5
Class 15. 3/15 Yael Zerubavel in Class
Class 16. 3/17
-THE FUTURE VISION OF THE PALESTINIAN ARABS IN ISRAEL The National
Committee For The Heads Of The Arab Local Authorities In Israel, 2006
[selections from Avoda Aravit (Israeli TV Show)]
Section 7. Military Service and Other Violence
Class 17. 3/19
-Kimmerling, Baruh Chapter 7 The Code of Security: The Israeli Military-Cultural Complex
-Lomsky-feder, Edna
YOUTH IN THE SHADOW OF WAR, WAR IN THE LIGHT OF
YOUTH: LIFE
STORIES OF ISRAELI VETERANS, IN: Social Problems
And Social Contexts In
Adolescence : Perspectives Across Boundaries /Klaus
Hurrelmann 1996
-Lieblich, Amia MOTHER-SON RELATIONSHIPS IN THE SHADOW OF
WAR, IN: Mothers & Sons : Feminism, Masculinity, And The Struggle To Raise Our
Sons /O'Reilly 2001
Class 18. 3/22
-Dloomy, Ariel
THE ISRAELI REFUSENIKS: 1982–2003, Israel Affairs 11(4) 2005
-Kanaaneh, Rhoda
EMBATTLED IDENTITIES: PALESTINIAN SOLDIERS IN THE ISRAELI
MILITARY, Journal Of Palestine Studies 2003
Class 19. 3/24 Film: Yossi & Jagger
Class 20. 3/26 Finish Film and discussion
-Weiss, Meira
WAR BODIES, HEDONIST BODIES: DIALECTICS OF THE COLLECTIVE
AND THE INDIVIDUAL IN ISRAELI SOCIETY, American Ethnologist 1997
*Assignment 2 Due*
3/29-4/2 Spring Break
4/5 No class; Passover Observed
Section 8. Holocaust and War Commemoration
Class 21. 4/7
-Sheffi, Na'ama BETWEEN COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND MANIPULATION: THE
HOLOCAUST, WAGNER AND THE ISRAELIS, The Journal Of Israeli History
23(1) 2004
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
6
-Baumel, Judith “RACHEL LAMENTS HER CHILDREN” —
REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN IN ISRAELI HOLOCAUST MEMORIALS, Israel
Studies 1(1) 1996
Class 22. 4/9
-Mosse, George L. 1979. "National Cemeteries and National Revival: the Cult of the Fallen
Soldiers", Journal of Contemporary History 14.
-Handelman, Don.1998 [1990]."State Ceremonies of Israel - Remembrance Day and
Independence Day" in Models and Mirrors: Towards an Anthropology of Public
Events, New York: Berghahn, pp. 191-233. (in Online Ebook: Nationalism and the Israeli
State : Bureaucratic Logic In Public Events, Don Handelman 2004)
Section 9. Economic Changes
Class 23. 4/12
-Grossman, Ronit Tourism and Change in a Galilee Kibbutz: An Ethnography; in Carmeli,
Yoram S.(Editor). Consumption and Market Society in Israel.New York, NY, USA: Berg
Publishers, 2004
-Zilberfarb, Ben-Zion FROM SOCIALISM TO FREE MARKET - THE ISRAELI
ECONOMY 1948-2003, Israel Affairs 11(1) 2005
Class 24. 4/14
(Selections from Film: James’ Journey to Jerusalem)
-Ram, Uri CITIZENS, CONSUMERS AND BELIEVERS: THE ISRAELI PUBLIC
SPHERE BETWEEN CAPITALISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM, Israel Studies
3(1) 1998
-Landau, Pinchas
THE ISRAELI ECONOMY IN THE 1990S: BREAKOUT OR
BREAKDOWN?, IN: Whither Israel? : The Domestic Challenges /Keith Kyle 1993
Section 10. Gender and Sexuality
Class 25. 4/16
Selections from Fink, Amir Independence Park : The Lives of Gay Men in Israel (1999)
Class 26. 4/19.
-Kaplan, Danny
THE MILITARY AS A SECOND BAR MITZVAH: COMBAT SERVICE AS
INITIATION TO ZIONIST MASCULINITY, IN: Imagined Masculinities : Male
Identity And Culture In The Modern Middle East /Mai Ghoussoub 2000
-Izraeli, Dafna
PARADOXES OF WOMEN'S SERVICE IN THE ISRAEL DEFENSE
FORCES, IN: Military, State, And Society In Israel : Theoretical & Comparative
Perspectives /Daniel Maman 2001
-Herzog, Hanna HOMEFRONT AND BATTLEFRONT: THE STATUS OF
JEWISH AND
PALESTINIAN WOMEN IN ISRAEL, Israel Studies 3(1) 1998
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
7
Class 27. 4/21
-Izraeli, Dafna
THE POLITICAL CONTEXT OF FEMINIST ATTITUDES IN ISRAEL, Gender
And Society 1988
-Weil, Shalva . ETHIOPIAN JEWISH WOMEN: Trends and Transformations in the
Context of Transnational Change. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies &
Gender
Issues (8), 2004
Section 11. Israeli Pop-National Culture
Class 28. 4/23
-VINITZKY-SEROUSSI, VERED
"JERUSALEM ASSASSINATED RABIN AND TEL AVIV COMMEMORATED
HIM": RABIN MEMORIALS AND THE DISCOURSE OF NATIONAL
IDENTITY 1988
-Salamon, Hagar
POLITICAL BUMPER STICKERS IN CONTEMPORARY ISRAEL: FOLKLORE AS
AN EMOTIONAL BATTLEGROUND, The Journal Of American Folklore 2001
Class 29. 4/26
- Almog, Oz FROM BLORIT TO PONYTAIL: ISRAELI CULTURE REFLECTED IN
POPULAR HAIRSTYLES, Israel Studies 8(2) 2003
- Tasha, Oren Demon in the Box: Jews, Arabs, Politics, and Culture in the Making of Israeli
Televison (E-Book)
Class 30. 4/28
-ISRAELI ROCK, IN: Popular Music And National Culture In Israel /Motti
Regev 2004
- Saada-Ophir, Galit BORDERLAND POP: ARAB JEWISH MUSICIANS AND
THE POLITICS OF PERFORMANCE, Cultural Anthropology 21(2) 2006
Section 12. “Yordim:” The Israeli Diaspora/Israelis Abroad
Class 31. 4/30
-Haviv, Ayana . Next Year In Kathmandu: Israeli Backpackers…in Israeli Backpackers 2005
- Feldman, Jackie MARKING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ENCLAVE:
DEFINING THE ISRAELI COLLECTIVE THROUGH THE POLAND
'EXPERIENCE', Israel Studies
7(2) 2002
Class 32. 5/3
-Meyers, Oren A HOME AWAY FROM HOME? ISRAEL SHELANU AND THE SELFPERCEPTIONS OF ISRAELI MIGRANTS, Israel Studies 6(3) 2001
-Shokeid, Moshe THE PEOPLE OF THE SONG, IN: Children Of Circumstances :
Israeli Emigrants In New York /Moshe Shokeid 1988
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
8
Section 13. Israel as Multicultural or Divided?
Class 33. 5/5
-Kimmerling Chapter: Conclusions
Class 34. 5/7
Sticking Together : The Israeli Experiment in Pluralism. Litan, Robert E. Kop, Yaakov
(selected chapters) (e-book)
Class 35. 5/10 Course wrap-up and class dinner
*Final Project Due 5/18*
Brink-Danan JUDS0870
9