Employing a combination of personal observation, political commentary and cultural analysis, Schalit examines the instability of Israel's public image around the world, and America's troubled love for it, as only an Israeli-American would know.

This first book to examine the Jewish state through the lens of Jewish utopian thought, from its biblical beginnings to modernity, offers a fresh perspective on the political, religious, and geopolitical life of Israel. As Marc J. Rosenstein argues, the Jewish people's collective memories, desires, hopes, and faith have converged to envision an ideal life in the Land of Israel--but, critically, the legacy is a kaleidoscope of conflicting (and sometimes overlapping) visions. And after three millennia of imagining utopia, it is almost impossible for Jews to respond to Israel's realities without being influenced--even unconsciously--by these images. Charting the place of utopian thought in Judaism, Rosenstein then illustrates, with original texts, diverse utopian visions of the Jewish state: Torah state (Yavetz), holy community (based on nostalgic memories of the medieval community), national-cultural home (Lewinsky), "normal" state (Herzl), socialist paradise (Syrkin), anarchy (Jabotinsky), and a polity defined by Israel's historic or divinely ordained borders. Analyzing how these disparate utopian visions collide in Israel's attempts to chart policy and practice regarding the Sabbath, social welfare, immigration, developing versus conserving the land, and the Israel-Diaspora relationship yields novel perspectives on contemporary flashpoints. His own utopian vision offers a further entryway for both Israelis and Diaspora Jews into more informed and nuanced conversations about the "Jewish state."

This book provides a thorough and detailed examination of Israeli institutions and how they function. It explains the decline in effectiveness of the government and the spread of cultural malaise in the Israel of the eighties. Horowitz and Lissak trace the integrative and disintegrative trends in Israel and show how a society that had laid the foundations for a cohesive Jewish nation-state became increasingly vulnerable to centrifugal forces. The book not only reflects a broad and comprehensive approach, but also focuses on themes that cut across institutional structures, such as the weakening of social and political cohesion in an overburdened polity.

A fascinating, non-partisan exploration of an incendiary region Say the word “Israel” today and it sparks images of walls and rockets and a bloody conflict without end. Yet for decades, the symbol of the Jewish State was the noble pioneer draining the swamps and making the deserts bloom: the legendary kibbutznik. So what ever happened to the pioneers’ dream of founding a socialist utopia in the land called Palestine? Chasing Utopia: The Future of the Kibbutz in a Divided Israel draws readers into the quest for answers to the defining political conflict of our era. Acclaimed author David Leach revisits his raucous memories of life as a kibbutz volunteer and returns to meet a new generation of Jewish and Arab citizens struggling to forge a better future together. Crisscrossing the nation, Leach chronicles the controversial decline of Israel’s kibbutz movement and witnesses a renaissance of the original vision for a peaceable utopia in unexpected corners of the Promised Land. Chasing Utopia is an entertaining and enlightening portrait of a divided nation where hope persists against the odds.

There are more than 450 Moshavim settlements and about 270 kibbutzim in Israel. While there is a range of communal and cooperative kibbutz movements, all with slight ideological differences, they are all collective rural communities, based on an ideal to create a social utopian settlement. Placing the kibbutz within the wider context of utopian social ideals and how they have historically been physically and architecturally constructed, this book discusses the form of the 'ideal settlement' as an integral part and means for realizing a utopian doctrine. It presents an analysis of physical planning in the kibbutz through the past eight decades and how changes in ideology are reflected in changes in layout and aesthetics. In doing so, this book shows how a utopian settlement organization behaves over time, from their first appearance in 1920 on, to an examination of the current spatial layouts and the directions of their expected future development.

Israeli American journalist Schalit distinguishes between the Israel he knows and the image of it in the minds of Americans. “An incisive look at the connection between the US and Israel, and their respective roles on the world stage . . . Israel vs. Utopia is a book that could only be written by someone intimate with the ethos of both countries.” —Jerusalem Post Israel is a synonym for many things: the ancestral home of the Jewish people, the hell of the Palestinians, the realization of a centuries-old dream of freedom, and the heart of the War on Terror. No country inspires as much debate about its rights and wrongs, its legitimacy and illegitimacies, than Israel. Historically associated with Europe, such debate finally became common in the US during the Bush era, as America deepened its involvement in the region, and Israel fought three wars. In his new book, Israel vs. Utopia, Israeli American journalist Joel Schalit distinguishes between the Israel he knows, and the image of it that exists in the imagination of Americans. Israel is a state of mind, Schalit argues, as much as it is its own sovereign state. Exploring this tension, in America, in Israel, employing a combination of personal observation, political, and cultural commentary, Schalit defines the instability of Israel, as a metaphor, and America’s troubled love for it, as only an Israeli American would know.

This exploration of the Jewish political tradition elucidates a long, rich, and diverse experience of both sovereignty and dispersed statelessness. It holds insights, as Zvi Gitelman points out in his introductory chapter, for anyone interested comparative and ethnic politics, Jewish history, and the prehistory of contemporary Israeli politics. Stuart Cohen analyzes the "covenant idea" and the constitutional character of ancient Israel, which had a profound influence on Western political thought through the medium of the Bible. Gerald Blidstein examines rabbinic strategies for accommodation to the realities of Jewish dispersion in the middle Ages, while Robert Chazan focuses on communal authority and self-governance in the same period. Jonathan Frankel and Paula Hyman move the study into modern times with attempts to characterize the diverse patterns of Jewish political culture and activity in different parts of Europe, in the process revealing the dynamics of political cultural influence. Finally, Peter Medding looks at the "new politics" of contemporary American Jews - as voters, as public officials, and as organizational actors.

Focusing on the human story, journalist Daniel Gavron movingly portrays the fears, regrets and hopes of members of kibbutzim ranging from traditional to modern and agricultural to urban.

A refreshingly non-doctrinaire anthology of writings and interviews covering much of the intellectual geography of the new anti-market left. “Joel Schalit is one of that interesting new breed of young American leftist thinkers, with a large online presence, and a punk rock band and fanzine to run alongside his political collective and magazine Bad Subject . . . In just over 300 pages, Schalit and his contributors put forward an astounding array of anti-market arguments; survey countless pockets of anti-capitalist resistance (opposition to free-market logic comes from a surprisingly wide spectrum, from the WTO protesters in Seattle and the Zapatista rebellion, to fundamentalist religion and even some centrists and conservatives); and assess the role of culture as a public sphere in which opposition can be rehearsed. But what’s most striking about this book is not so much its multiplicity of viewpoints or intellectual rigour, but the faint hint of optimism it contains . . . These essays are addressed to the intelligent but not necessarily academic reader, and there’s a touching conviction that the ideas here should and will be discussed by ordinary people like me, and perhaps like you too.” —The Independent on Sunday (UK) “[A] must-read for any up-and-coming revolutionary who hates market economy, but isn’t sure why.” —Portland Mercury The collapse of Enron and WorldCom and the increasing evidence of corruption at the highest levels of corporate life has opened the door to a remarkable whirlwind of dialogue about the prevailing economic ideology of the post–Cold War era. While traditionally the province of the left, concerns about the legitimacy of market-driven societies are now being voiced by centrists and conservatives, who fear that their livelihoods and their investments are suddenly at the mercy of forces spinning out of control. Enter The Anti-Capitalism Reader, a refreshingly non-doctrinaire anthology of writings and interviews covering much of the intellectual geography of the new anti-market left that has become increasingly visible since anti-capitalist protests rocked the World Trade Organization’s 1999 meeting in Seattle. Featuring essays by Doug Henwood, Naomi Klein, Ali Abunimah, Annalee Newitz, Paul Thomas, Ultra-red, and the Bad Subjects collective—and interviews with Slavoj Žižek, Toni Negri, Thomas Frank, and Wendy Brown—The Anti-Capitalism Reader moves from politics to culture, gender, and alternative economic systems. Each contributor presents accessible, hard-hitting (and sometimes humorous) critical insights that together make this volume an ideal partner in contemporary discourse about globalization, war, and economic decline.

Born in Europe’s shadow, haunted by the Holocaust, and inspired by the Enlightenment, Israel has changed. Where is this diverse and self-absorbed country heading today? How do its citizens see themselves, globally and historically? Israel Has Moved is a profound and sometimes unsettling account of a country that is no longer where we might think.