Imposed Politics of Cultural Differences: Managed Multiculturalism in Israeli Civil Society

Abstract

This article analyzes the processes by which multicultural discourses and practices are implemented and adapted in local settings. Based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork in an Israeli NGO that promotes economic and social rights, this work examines the micro-politics of multiculturalism and the complex uses of this concept by various Jewish and Arab actors in the organization. The research shows how multicultural notions concerning Arab culture were introduced by the Jewish actors in order to depoliticize Jewish-Arab relations and preserve the balance and stability within the organization. By adopting characteristics of state multiculturalism-in a country where multiculturalism is not an aspect of official government policy-the Jewish actors attempted to produce social change while preserving central elements in the hegemonic Zionist-nationalistic worldview.

Translating Human Rights of the “Enemy”: The Case of Israeli NGOs Defending Palestinian Rights

“…Culture, including the culture of human rights, is always non-homogenous, dynamic and contested, and always involves conflicts and power struggles. International human rights norms interact in complex and multiple fashions with existing cultures, moralities, meanings, concepts, identities, cognitive categories, and realities (Cowan, Dembour, and Wilson 2001;Goodale 2006Goodale , 2007Goodale , 2009Goodale and Merry 2007;Orr 2011;Preis 1996;Slyomovics 2005;Speed 2007;Wilson 1997;Wilson and Mitchell 2003).…”

The Adaptation of Human Rights Norms in Local Settings: Intersections of Local and Bureaucratic Knowledge in an Israeli NGO

“…In negotiating the definition of human rights, various actors manipulate knowledge and discourses. International norms of human rights never operate in a cultural vacuum; rather, they interact in complex fashions with existing meanings and realities (Preis 1996;Wilson 1997b;Cowan et al 2001;Slyomovics 2005;Goldstein 2007;Goodale 2007Goodale , 2009Orr 2011;Speed 2007).…”

Homeland Entitlement

“…This segment of population is made up of many diverse diasporas who have made Aliyah (the immigration of Jews) to Israel, deeply believing they are returning to their ancient homeland (Dowty 2000; Gorny 2001). While some scholars claim that Israeli society is characterized by multiculturalism (Yonah 2005), other scholars question the applicability of the concept when applied to the Jewish society (Oyserman 1993; Orr 2011). Either way, Israeli Jews are engaged in homeland making, even though the exercise in transnationalism is inevitable, as they bring with themselves multistranded social relations that link their past and present cultures (Schulz 1996; Gorny 2001; Ben-Porat 2008; Shelef 2010).…”