Democratic Culture, Volume 10: Gender and Society in Israel

A multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collection of articles on the topic of gender and society in Israel, which examines the way in which gender delineates the lives of women and their status in society, politics, the workplace, law, the media, education, religious life, and culture. 

This issue of the periodical Democratic Culture, which is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Dafna Izraeli, contains feminist studies that examine the situation of women in Israel. Although the collection is multi-disciplinary, the nature of the subject dictates that most of the articles are closely linked to sociology and law, although they are not limited by the traditional division of disciplines. For example, legal discussions are closely linked to sociology, the sociological analyses draw on cultural history, the literary approach is based on ideas taken from sociology, and the discussion of education also includes cultural and psychological insights.

The articles in this volume expound on many aspects of women’s life in Israel today and examine the way in which gender dictates their way of life and place in society, politics, the workplace, legal status, the media, education, religious life, and culture. The discussion is not limited to the fields in which Prof. Izraeli specialized; rather, the goal was to expand the areas covered to include diverse aspects of women’s lives and their status in Israeli society today, while creating a broad and synchronic picture. Because the authors also tried to highlight diachronic processes that led to the status of women in Israel today, some of the articles deal with the historical basis for the place of women in Israeli society. Another topic discussed in several articles is the Israeli feminist movement and various feminist battles, some of which were led by Prof. Izraeli.

Introduction

Prof. Dafna Izraeli-A Biography

Articles

Adi Eyal
The Economic and Feminist Approaches to Law: An Eternal Feud, or a Misunderstanding Among Friends?

Orly Benjamin
Going Downhill in the Labor Market: The Commodification of Feminine Work Force in Israel

Zehavit Gross
The Mute Feminist Psychological Template of Girl Graduates of Religious-Zionist High Schools in Israel

Henriette Dahan-Kalev
Mizrahi Feminism, Post Colonialism and Globalization

Ruth Halperin-Kaddari
"Complete Equality...Irrespective of...Sex...": Women, Law and Social Change in Israel

Hanna Herzog
Between the Lawn and the Gravel Path - Women, Politics, and Civil Society

Dafna Izraeli
Gender Politics in Israel: The Case of Affirmative Action in the Appointment of Women to Directorships

Tova Cohen
Jewish Women's Leadership: Israeli Modern Orthodoxy as a Test Case

Aliza Lavie
Men are the Discourse and Women Only Add Color

Pnina Lahav
Gender Politics and the Diaspora Museum

Orly Lubin
Between the Workers' Kitchen and the Hungarian Café An Autobiography of an Urban Woman

Hannah Safran
The Broken Dream, or The Legend of Equal Opportunity: Immigrant Women and the Myth of Equality in Israel

Orit Kamir
Typology and Analysis of Israeli Feminism

English Section

Introduction: Prof. Dafna Izraeli - A Biography

English Abstracts