Blackness in Israel: Rethinking Racial Boundaries

This book explores contemporary inflections of blackness in Israel and highlights their historical geographies in Europe, the Middle East, and North America. It emphasizes how blackness is used for boundary-making, boundary-breaking, and boundary-re-making in contemporary Israel, revealing the deep historical roots of contemporary understandings of race, blackness, and Jewishness. The study is based on ethnographic research and demonstrates how ethno-racial groups in Israeli society engage with blackness, highlighting the politics of identity, rights, and victimhood embedded within the rhetoric of blackness in contemporary Israel.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 262 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This captivating book delves into the intricate and ever-evolving manifestations of blackness in contemporary Israel, placing them at the forefront of historical geographies spanning Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The contributors engage in a thoughtful exploration of the diverse expressions and appropriations of modern forms of blackness in Israel, highlighting their profound historical roots in contemporary understandings of race, blackness, and Jewishness. By offering a fresh lens on the sociology of Israel and the field of black studies, this volume unveils a nuanced portrayal of blackness, situated at the intersection of global, regional, national, and local dimensions. While race has been extensively examined in relation to Judaism and Israeli society, blackness as a conceptual tool independent of phenotype, skin tone, and even music has yet to be fully explored. Drawing upon ethnographic research, the study underscores that numerous ethno-racial groups within Israeli society engage intimately with blackness, as it is repeatedly and explicitly addressed by a wide range of social actors. This book not only enhances our understanding of the politics of identity, rights, and victimhood embedded within the rhetoric of blackness in contemporary Israel but also holds significant appeal to scholars engaged in the study of blackness, globalization, immigration, and diaspora.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367629793