Exploring the Adaptive Capacities of Shared Jewish–Arab Organizations in Israel

Nonprofits have unique strategic concerns, including their dependence on external resources, the management of multiple stakeholders, perceptions about their organizational legitimacy as well as their primary focus on the social value of their organizational mission (Stone and Brush 1996). For shared Jewish–Arab organizations in Israel that are seeking to promote a ‘shared society,’ the obstacles in navigating these various challenges are particularly pronounced and require a very unique kind of adaptive capacity (see Letts et al. 1999; Connolly and York 2003; Strichman et al. 2007). Often operating outside of the general consensus, these organizations are faced with the significant challenge of promoting values of partnership, equality and mutual interests among two populations that are often at odds. This research seeks to shed light on how shared Arab–Jewish nonprofits are continually working to strengthen organizational capacities to more effectively carry out their particular organizational mission, given the myriad of challenges they face.     

Between ‘homeland’ and ‘diaspora’: multicultural education in Israel and South Korea

The aim of this qualitative case study was to explore multicultural education for ‘newcomers’ in Israel and in South Korea. Despite their differences, the two countries face the same inflow of two types of newcomers – one group that is expected to fully integrate, and the other of newcomers considered temporary. The educational challenge that results is recognition of the cultural groups, and providing equal educational opportunities, for both. Four schools were compared, two in each country, measuring multicultural education according to Bank’s five dimensions. Findings show that the same dimensions could be identified in all schools. The differences were in the school’s interpretation of the cultural identity of the students, congruent with their legal status, and degree of acceptability by the host country. The groups that were expected to fully integrate into the host country (perceived as a ‘homeland’) were given a more assimilatory education, as manifested in the Content Integration dimension; whereas the groups that were considered foreign were given a more multicultural education, with the schools making more references to their national culture, thus enhancing an identity of a ‘diaspora.’     

Paradigm of ‘better life’: ‘development’ among the Khumi in the Chittagong Hill Tracts

Development is conventionally understood in various ways including economic growth, increase of gross domestic product (GDP), rise of per-capita income, improvement of social facilities, political stabilities, and women's empowerment and many other issues, but it finally means bringing positive changes in the life of people. However, development is always contextual because the notion and nature of development often varies from society to society depending on the context of local–societal dynamics. Therefore what is regarded globally accepted model of development can be challenged by the local discourse of development, since local-level perception could contest the universal model. This article addresses such a case of development which is conceptualised from the social and cultural point of view amid everyday experiences of ordinary people's lives. The article contextualises its argument with specific reference to the Khumi people living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.     

High school students’ academic causal attributions in the cultural-political context of the Arab school system in Israel

While motivation is commonly interpreted as an individual student’s characteristic, motivational perceptions and beliefs, such as causal attributions of success and failure, are embedded in cultural meanings and contextual practices. The current study aimed to investigate causal attributions among Arab high school students in Israel and to interpret them in the light of their cultural-political context. Two hundred and five 11th-grade Arab students from three different geographic regions in Israel responded to open-ended and closed survey questions about events of success and failure in school. The analysis indicated that students overwhelmingly considered exams when thinking about events of success and failure, reflecting the normative teacher-centred pedagogical practices in schools. The analysis also manifested patterns of a self-serving bias. These findings are interpreted in the light of the cultural-political characteristics of the Arab school system in Israel.     

Gender Stereotypes and Perceptions of Men,Women, and ‘Persons’ in the Workforce

No abstract available for this article.     

Reorientalism and globalisation: transnational artists from India and representations of the ‘other’

In this article, I discuss some artists who have emigrated from India to the United States and the United Kingdom whose more recent work contains ‘Orientalising’ imagery influenced by the conjoined forces of the art market, collectors, biennales, globalisation, the Internet, the rapid development of India’s economy and its impact on the global art scene. It seems that fame and fortune for some Indian artists living in the West entails capitulating to the desire for exotic, ornate, sexual and stereotypical representations associated with Indian culture and religion. In contrast, I consider the direction taken by other artists who remain in their country of origin and portray life lived there without being particularly attentive to being Indian, although they may concentrate on social and political issues.     

‘Us’ and ‘them’: the limits and possibilities of a ‘politics of neurodiversity’ in neoliberal times

The neurodiversity movement claims that there are neurological differences in the human population, and that autism is a natural variation among humans – not a disease or a disorder, just ‘a difference’. A ‘politics of neurodiversity’ is based on the claim that the ‘neurodiverse’ population constitutes a political grouping comparable with those of class, gender, sexuality or race. This paper considers the limits and possibilities of neurodiverse political activism, and concludes by calling for a politics of identity that does not depend on a politics of ‘us’ and ‘them’.     

‘My Judaic Pride Sang’: Eduard Bagritskii and the Making of Soviet Jewish Identity

Maxim D. Shrayer, Russian Poet/Soviet Jew. The Legacy of Eduard Bagritskii. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. XV + 163pp. Notes. Index. Illustrations. ISBN 0–7425–0780–7     

‘The Sunshine of Manly Sports and Pastimes’: Sport and the Integration of Jewish Refugees in Britain, 1895–1914

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Jewish refugees arriving in Great Britain were exposed to an ‘anglicisation’ campaign designed to aid their integration into British society and their assimilation of British character traits and cultural values. Within this campaign, especially the element focusing on the children of the migrants, interest and participation in sport was consciously ‘transferred’ through the medium of youth and sporting organisations in order to help in their ‘anglicisation’. This essaywill show how physical recreation was promoted by the English Jewish establishment and how participation in sport amongst young Jews grew.     

Battling balfour: ‘White Diplomacy’, the Russian Orthodox Church and the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine1

ARCHITECTS OF YIDDISHISM AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. A STUDY IN JEWISH CULTURAL HISTORY, BY EMANUEL S. Goldsmith. Rutherford, Madison, Teaneck, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press and London, Associated University Presses, 1976. 309 pp. Illus. Bibl. Index. US $15.00, £7.50.     

‘Nation‐state’ and ‘minority’ types of discourse ‐problems of communication between the majority and the islamic minorities in contemporary bulgaria

Ethnic problems may be investigated via either or both of two types of discourse — ‘nation‐state discourse’ and ‘minority discourse’. The first type constitutes a declarative, dia‐chronic‐oriented type of discourse, centred around easily perceivable semiotic codes (language, history, tradition, religion). These codes are invested with qualities which relate to the existence and sustainability of the nation‐state. As a consequence the defence of such codes is experienced as a defence of the nation‐state. By contrast a ‘minority type’ of discourse does not, in principle, centre on nation‐state semiotic codes. In Bulgaria, the discourse of the Islamic communities of the country (Turks, Pomaks, Turkish Gypsies) revolves, by and large, around issues of integration and accommodation, especially of either a demographic and/or economic character. The paper surveys domains that display a close interaction between the nation‐state institutions and the Bulgarian minority communities, namely the mass media, national holidays, educational bodies, army and police. It is argued that a careful and critical appraisal of existing attitudes with respect to these domains is necessary if ethnic conflicts, most likely to emerge during the present atmosphere of post‐totalitarian changes, are to be avoided.

The study of ethnic relations relies on two types of discourse: ‘nation‐state discourse’ and ‘minority discourse’. In the present paper, the minorities under investigation are the Islamic minorities of the Bulgarian Turks and the Pomaks, and the Gypsy minority.     

Looking at their side of the conflict? Effects of single versus multiple perspective history teaching on Jewish and Arab adolescents’ attitude to out-group narratives and in-group responsibility

In the last decade, the issue of teaching the Palestinian perspective on the Jewish–Arab conflict in Israeli schools gave rise to considerable debate and competing curricula. A quasi-experimental study compared the effects of these competing approaches on learners’ attitudes to out-group narratives and perceived in-group responsibility (IR). A total of 176 Israeli Jewish and Arab participants were randomly allocated into teaching approaches differing in method of engagement with historical narratives (single authoritative narrative, empathetic dual narrative, and critical analysis of conflicting sources). Results revealed effects for teaching approach and majority–minority status. Engagement with a single authoritative narrative decreased interest in out-group perspectives while empathetic engagement with out-group and in-group perspectives increased it, though the effect was more pronounced for members of the Arab minority than for those of the Jewish majority. Among Jewish participants, an empathetic teaching approach led to a decrease in perceived IR while the critical approach led to the opposite outcome. The trends were inverted for Arab participants. Engagement with historical perspectives also moderated the impact of interest in out-group perspectives on acceptance of IR. Educational implications point to the harmful effects of enforcing a single narrative in conflicted societies and to the beneficial outcomes of multiple perspective teaching.     

Latino Parents’ and Adolescents’ Perceptions of the Needs and Issues of Adolescents in Their Community

Data from The Community Needs Assessment Survey were examined to understand the issues parents and adolescents felt were most important to address for the adolescents in their community. The sample of 1,784 Latino respondents consisted of 892 parent/adolescent dyads. Factor analyses found parents and adolescents identified and prioritized the same six factors: education and career planning, abuse and victimization, adolescent behavior problems, adolescent sexuality, socioeconomic stressors, and relationships. However, parent ratings for all factors were higher, indicating a higher level of concern. The article analyzes differences by age/generation (parents versus adolescents), by immigrant versus native status, and by type of dyad based on the latter (i.e., US born adolescent/US born parent, US born adolescent/immigrant parent, immigrant adolescent/immigrant parent). The authors discuss the complex interaction of these factors and the implications for practice and research.     

Authoritarian Learning and Authoritarian Resilience: Regime Responses to the ‘Arab Awakening’

The spread of protests throughout the Arab world can be viewed as the product of social learning by Arab citizens—a wave effect facilitated by the rapid diffusion of ideas, discourses, and practices from one country to another and their adaptation to local contexts. Yet it less commonly recognized that Arab regimes' counter-revolutionary strategies have also been shaped by processes of learning and diffusion among regime elites, especially among those where protests began later in the sequence of events that constitute the Arab awakening. Accordingly, there have been two parallel processes at work in the unfolding and the potential unraveling of the Arab awakening: one at the level of Arab societies and the other among authoritarian regimes. Initially, the first of these processes worked to the advantage of protestors. As regimes adapted to the repertoires of contention developed by protesters and assessed the direction of regional and international trends, the advantage shifted in their direction. Several incumbents in the region became increasingly persuaded that their best bet lay in strategies of repression, and, in essence, in hunkering down and pursuing a range of measures to ride out uprisings which themselves seemed to confront diminishing probabilities of success.

La difusión de protestas a través del mundo árabe puede verse como un producto de aprendizaje social por ciudadanos árabes—un efecto de oleaje facilitado por la rápida difusión de ideas, conversaciones y prácticas de un país a otro y su adaptación a contextos locales. Sin embargo, es menos reconocido que las estrategias contrarrevolucionarias de los regímenes árabes se hayan formado por procesos de aprendizaje y difusión entre regímenes elitistas, especialmente entre aquellos a donde las protestas empezaron más tarde en la secuencia de eventos que constituyen el despertar árabe. En consecuencia, ha habido dos procesos paralelos en función de la revelación y desenredo potencial del despertar árabe: uno al nivel de las sociedades árabes y el otro entre los regímenes autoritarios. Inicialmente, el primero de estos procesos trabajó en ventaja de los manifestantes. En cuanto los regímenes se adaptaron a los repertorios de opinión desarrollados por los manifestantes, y evaluaron la dirección de tendencias regionales e internacionales, la ventaja cambió en su dirección. Varios de los mandatarios en la región aumentaron su persuasión de que su mejor opción radicaba en estrategias de represión y fundamentalmente en refugiarse y perseguir una serie de medidas para superar los levantamientos que ellos mismos parecían hacerle frente, disminuyendo las probabilidades de éxito.

遍及阿拉伯世界的抗议浪潮可被视为阿拉伯各国公民进行社会学习的产物——一种由观念的迅速扩散、演讲、从一国到另一国的实践以及对当地环境的适应等助推下的波浪效应。然而人们较少认识到,阿拉伯各国政权反革命的策略已经由政权精英之间,尤其是那些在构成阿拉伯觉醒的事件序列中较晚出现抗议的政权之间的学习和扩散过程塑造成形。相应地,在展现着的和潜在瓦解着的阿拉伯觉醒中,有两个平行的进程：一个是阿拉伯社会这一层面的进程,另一个是统治政权中间的进程。起初,第一个进程有利于抗议者。当各政权适应了抗议者提出的各种论争并评估地区和国际趋势的方向后,有利地位就转到了它们一边。该地区一些现任领导人已日益相信,他们最好的办法是实行镇压策略,根本上说是着手控制并采取一系列措施,以平安渡过这些起义,而它们自身似乎也面临成功概率下降的问题。     

“Live in Israel. Live the Dream”: Identity,Belonging, and Contemporary American Jewish Migration to Israel

Most current sociological literature on migration examines international moves to the United States and internal migration. Scant research addresses religious migration out of the United States. Utilizing in-depth, semi-structured interviews, we explore motivations behind recent American Jewish migration to Israel and how Jewish identity plays a role in the decision to move. We find that a combination of religious and cultural factors, Zionism, social networks, and the desire for a new start play a major role in motivating migration to Israel. Jewish identity is a common thread across these motivations. Many participants created a strong bond between their Judaism and Israel, viewing their connection to Israel as a way to belong to a larger community and demonstrate their attachment to Judaism. We discuss the implications for studying religious emigration from the United States that move beyond traditional economic models.     

Rwanda's ‘Hutsi’: intersections of ethnicity and violence in the lives of youth of ‘mixed’ heritage

This article looks at young Rwandans of ‘mixed’ Hutu–Tutsi heritage, exploring how their mixed identity shaped their experiences during the 1994 genocide and how it influences their everyday experiences of categorization and belonging in contemporary Rwanda. It reveals the complex position of these young ‘Hutsi’ and the significant constraints they face in exercising identity choices in a context with a history of ethnic violence and where state policies have outlawed ethnicity. This article argues that the experiences, narratives and performances of these young Rwandans simultaneously challenge and reinforce the binary ‘ethnic logic’ that persists in contemporary Rwanda. Yet it suggests that providing space for Rwanda's ‘Hutsi’ and their diverse experiences could help to de-essentialize the categories ‘Hutu’ and ‘Tutsi’ and reduce the risks of future violence.