Myron J. Aronoff - Böcker

What can anthropology and political science learn from each other? The authors argue that collaboration, particularly in the area of concepts and methodologies, is tremendously beneficial for both disciplines, though they also deal with some troubling aspects of the relationship. Focusing on the influence of anthropology on political science, the book examines the basic assumptions the practitioners of each discipline make about the nature of social and political reality, compares some of the key concepts each field employs, and provides an extensive review of the basic methods of research that “bridge” both disciplines: ethnography and case study. Through ethnography (participant observation), reliance on extended case studies, and the use of “anthropological” concepts and sensibilities, a greater understanding of some of the most challenging issues of the day can be gained. For example, political anthropology challenges the illusion of the “autonomy of the political” assumed by political science to characterize so-called modern societies. Several chapters include a cross-disciplinary analysis of key concepts and issues: political culture, political ritual, the politics of collective identity, democratization in divided societies, conflict resolution, civil society, and the politics of post-Communist transformations.

The Political Anthropology series offers a forum for the publication of original essays in the pioneering new multidisciplinary field of political anthropology. One of its major goals is to foster scholarly communication across conventional disciplinary boundaries. Volume one explores various aspects of the relationship between culture and politics. The introductory essay sets forth a conceptual framework for the study of political ideology from an anthropological perspective. The other essays include analyses of revivalist politics in Bermuda: caste, ideology, and power in Nepal; the discrepancy between the ideals and the political practice of the Sikhs in India's Punjab; the relationship between religious models of solidarity and structures of political power in rural Bangladesh; the relations between political action and meaning in West Bengal; and the attempt by the Soviets to fabricate a new Kazakh social past.

This third volume in the outstanding series makes important new contributions to our understanding of the process whereby individuals and groups attribute meanings to the political structures and communities they create or inherit. Avoiding simplistic distinctions between religion and politics, each of these essays suggests more satisfactory ways of approaching the complex nature of these dynamic phenomena. They explore the role of traditional religious values, symbols, affiliations, and/or leaders in dealing with contemporary sociopolitical realities, analyzing the way in which religious traditions help shape the understanding and meaning of contemporary political realities and how they are reinterpreted and used to accomplish political and religious goals.

The resurgence of political economy as an important topic reflects the deep interpenetration of politics and economics. There are few economic issues of consequence that are not shaped by government decisions, and there are few governments whose agendas are not dominated by economic issues. No country reflects the interpenetration of politics and economics as much as Israel.In this analysis, Ira Sharkansky examines the extensive involvement of the Israeli government in the country's economy, reflected in governmental expenditures that exceed the gross national product, intimate links between governmental activity and Israeli's standard of living, high inflation and other economic problems, and policymaking behaviors that include entrepreneurialism and indirection. He explores the strategic points of Israel's political economy, pursuing a qualitative analysis of Israeli problems and strategies for dealing with them. Those interested in policy analysis, political economy, comparative politics, comparative public administration, and Israeli politics will find this book invaluable.Contents: The Political Economy of Israel; What is the Israeli State? How Large is the Government Budget?; Israel's Standard of Living; Israeli Municipalities: Local Initiative amidst Central Controls; Who Gets What amidst High Inflation? Winners and Losers in the Israeli Budget 1978-1984; Conundrums of Israel's Political Economy: Problems without Solutions; Public Sector Entrepreneurialism; Policymaking by Indirection; Perspective on Israel's Political Economy.

This finely etched, on-site work examines the relationships between the changing political system and political culture in Israel, with particular focus on the decade of the 1980s. Written by a scholar equally at home in the United States and in Israel, and intellectually equally at home in political science and anthropology, Israeli Visions and Divisions is a fundamental contribution to a literature long on passion and short on reason, which perhaps is an academic reflection of social life in this deeply troubled land.Aronoff starts from the belief that the basic conflicting and even contradictory interpretations over what should be the exact character of Israel as a Jewish state continues to be the source of the most serious division among Jews within contemporary Israel. As a consequence, consensus politics yields to coalition politics; and prospects for a future consensus are dim. Conflict among Jewish political and religious groups, and between Jews and Arabs, is aggravated by the uses of Zionist symbolism in a fragmented political culture.This is a serious critique made from a sympathetic quarter. Aronoff suggests that the Israeli political system is undergoing a crisis of political legitimacy, exemplified by the rise of extraparliamentary movements. The parliamentary system accentuates' these divisions by making every minor tradition and vision part of the legislative and executive processes.Israeli Visions and Divisions is not a pessimistic reading. The author is convinced that the way is open for a move away from particularism and tribalism, and toward a new universalism and humanism. The old policies have proven bankrupt, and th,e old ideologies have lost their salience. The book is rich in detail and profound in outlook. It will be greeted by those interested in new policies as well as by students of the Middle East who hope to piece together what has gone awry in the land of milk and honey.

The Political Anthropology series offers a forum for the publication of original essays in the pioneering new multidisciplinary field of political anthropology. One of its major goals is to foster scholarly communication across conventional disciplinary boundaries. Volume one explores various aspects of the relationship between culture and politics. The introductory essay sets forth a conceptual framework for the study of political ideology from an anthropological perspective. The other essays include analyses of revivalist politics in Bermuda: caste, ideology, and power in Nepal; the discrepancy between the ideals and the political practice of the Sikhs in India's Punjab; the relationship between religious models of solidarity and structures of political power in rural Bangladesh; the relations between political action and meaning in West Bengal; and the attempt by the Soviets to fabricate a new Kazakh social past.

The resurgence of political economy as an important topic reflects the deep interpenetration of politics and economics. There are few economic issues of consequence that are not shaped by government decisions, and there are few governments whose agendas are not dominated by economic issues. No country reflects the interpenetration of politics and economics as much as Israel.In this analysis, Ira Sharkansky examines the extensive involvement of the Israeli government in the country's economy, reflected in governmental expenditures that exceed the gross national product, intimate links between governmental activity and Israeli's standard of living, high inflation and other economic problems, and policymaking behaviors that include entrepreneurialism and indirection. He explores the strategic points of Israel's political economy, pursuing a qualitative analysis of Israeli problems and strategies for dealing with them. Those interested in policy analysis, political economy, comparative politics, comparative public administration, and Israeli politics will find this book invaluable.Contents: The Political Economy of Israel; What is the Israeli State? How Large is the Government Budget?; Israel's Standard of Living; Israeli Municipalities: Local Initiative amidst Central Controls; Who Gets What amidst High Inflation? Winners and Losers in the Israeli Budget 1978-1984; Conundrums of Israel's Political Economy: Problems without Solutions; Public Sector Entrepreneurialism; Policymaking by Indirection; Perspective on Israel's Political Economy.

This finely etched, on-site work examines the relationships between the changing political system and political culture in Israel, with particular focus on the decade of the 1980s. Written by a scholar equally at home in the United States and in Israel, and intellectually equally at home in political science and anthropology, Israeli Visions and Divisions is a fundamental contribution to a literature long on passion and short on reason, which perhaps is an academic reflection of social life in this deeply troubled land.Aronoff starts from the belief that the basic conflicting and even contradictory interpretations over what should be the exact character of Israel as a Jewish state continues to be the source of the most serious division among Jews within contemporary Israel. As a consequence, consensus politics yields to coalition politics; and prospects for a future consensus are dim. Conflict among Jewish political and religious groups, and between Jews and Arabs, is aggravated by the uses of Zionist symbolism in a fragmented political culture.This is a serious critique made from a sympathetic quarter. Aronoff suggests that the Israeli political system is undergoing a crisis of political legitimacy, exemplified by the rise of extraparliamentary movements. The parliamentary system accentuates' these divisions by making every minor tradition and vision part of the legislative and executive processes.Israeli Visions and Divisions is not a pessimistic reading. The author is convinced that the way is open for a move away from particularism and tribalism, and toward a new universalism and humanism. The old policies have proven bankrupt, and th,e old ideologies have lost their salience. The book is rich in detail and profound in outlook. It will be greeted by those interested in new policies as well as by students of the Middle East who hope to piece together what has gone awry in the land of milk and honey.

An anthropological study of a major national political party - one which dominated Israeli politics for nearly five decades and was returned to office in summer 1992. The analysis focuses on the relationship between culture and politics to explain the crucial role the Labour Party has played.

An anthropological study of a major national political party - one which dominated Israeli politics for nearly five decades and was returned to office in summer 1992. The analysis focuses on the relationship between culture and politics to explain the crucial role the Labour Party has played.