Israel in Comparative Perspective
Subtitle: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom (Suny Series in Israeli Studies)
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: February 1996
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 296
ISBN-13: 9780791428320
Subjects: Asian / Middle Eastern history; Cultural studies; Politics / Current Events; International Relations - General; Sociology; Israel; Politics and government; Jewish - General; Foreign relations; 1967-1993; 1993-
Description: Because Israel is unique in many dimensions, many social scientists consider it a historical peculiarity. Neither East nor West, developed nor undeveloped, capitalist nor socialist, Third World nor First World, Israel has little in common with other countries and their historical experiences.

This book of original essays challenges the image of Israeli uniqueness and the status of the Israeli case and at the same time corrects some common misperceptions about the comparative method in general and case selection in particular. At the same time, it compares Israeli and Arab experiences and addresses critical issues in Middle Eastern studies.

. To challenge the image of Israeli uniqueness, the authors situate Israel's history in comparative context; employ macro-historical concepts both to reexamine the Israeli case and to build bridges between Israel and other historical experiences; and use the Israeli case to reconsider existing social science theories. Israel in Comparative Perspective demonstrates how our understanding of the region can be enriched by using models and theories developed in other regions to reexamine Israeli history.