Controversy surrounds Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the radical national and religious agendas at play there have come to define the area in the minds of many. This study, however, provides an alternative framework for understanding the process of "normalization" in the life of Jewish residents. Considering a wider range of historical and structural factors in which the colonization of the West Bank developed it allows placing its origins and everyday reality into a wider perspective. The works collected consider the transformation of the landscape, the patterns of relationships shared by the region's residents, Palestinian and Jewish alike, and the lasting effects of Israel's settlement policy. Stressed in particular are such factors as urban planning, rising inequality and the retreat of the welfare state, and the changing political economy of industry and employment. In doing so, the authors collected here provide new insight into the integration and segregation processes that are an integral part of the broader historical trends shaping Israel/Palestine.

About the Author

Marco Allegra is research fellow at the Instituto de Ciencias Sociais of the University of Lisbon. His publications include Palestinesi. Storia e identita di un popolo [The Palestinian People: A History] (2010) and the edited collection Conflict in the City: Contested Urban Spaces and Local Democracy (with Enrico Gualini and Joao Mourato, 2015).

Ariel Handel is the director of the Lexicon for Political Theory and co-director of the Minerva Humanities Center at Tel Aviv University. He is the editor-in-chief of The Political Lexicon of the Social Protest (in Hebrew; co-edited, 2012).

Erez Maggor is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at New York University and an Israel Institute Doctoral Fellow.

Reviews

This book is an essential addition to an academic library and ideal for researchers dealing with related Middle East subjects.

* Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253024886
Author Ariel Handel
Format Paperback
Page Count 234
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 363g