Israel's Materialist Militarism examines the decade of fluctuations in Israel's military policies, from the peace period of the Oslo Accords to the al-Aqsa Intifada, when the military's use of excessive force led to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, and on to the Second Lebanon War of 2006, which reversed the moderating tendencies of the withdrawal from Gaza a year earlier. These dynamics of escalation and deescalation are explained in terms of materialist militarism, the exchange between social groups' military sacrifice and their social rewards, which in turn increases or decreases the level of militarism in society. Levy thus lays down a theoretical framework vital to tracing the fluctuating levels of militarism in Israel and elsewhere. Israel's Materialist Militarism is recommended for those interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict and military-society relations in general.

About the Author
Yagil Levy, PhD, is External Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Reviews
Yagil Levy astutely brings together previously unconnected ideas about citizenship and rewards to military service. He thus produces a novel, persuasive account of how and why Israeli popular support for military actions against neighbors changes from one military engagement to the next. -- Charles Tilly, Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science, Columbia University
In this valuable book, Yagil Levy probes how the Israeli state has historically been constituted by military service and its concomitant social and material rewards, how the citizenship equation has been transformed over the decades, how the military's social base has changed as a result, and how these various trajectories have come together to shape the contemporary Israeli polity, its democracy, and especially its foreign policy and military strategy. The "material militarist" theoretical framework that Levy employs for organizing and understanding these developments is sure to provoke much debate, as will his particular interpretations of Israeli politics. Students of Israel in particular and of civil-military relations in general will find much rewarding in this rich study. -- Ronald R. Krebs, McKnight Land-Grant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Minnesota



Book Information
ISBN 9780739119099
Author Yagil Levy
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint Lexington Books
Publisher Lexington Books
Weight(grams) 440g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 153mm * 23mm