Sociological Knowledge and Collective Identity: S. N. Eisenstadt and Israeli Society

This book examines the relationships between sociology and projects of national identity construction, and presents a critique of Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, the prominent Israeli sociologist, known as the "father of Israeli sociology".

Format: Hardback
Length: 194 pages
Publication date: 28 March 2019
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Sociology, which emerged in the 19th century as the study of national societies, is a reflection of its time, power relations, and social imaginaries. As a discursive practice deeply embedded in the meta-narratives of modernity, sociology possesses the inherent ability to shape socially shared concepts and construct collective identities. This book delves into the intricate relationships between sociology and projects of national identity construction, offering a critical evaluation of Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, the renowned Israeli sociologist often referred to as the father of Israeli sociology.

The book specifically focuses on Eisenstadt's sociology of Israel as a case of knowledge construction within an ideological system. It examines the interconnectedness between his various sociological analyses of Israeli society and the Zionist imaginary, specifically the deeply entrenched political myths and historiographical narratives that constitute Israel's hegemonic national identity. By emphasizing the interplay between textuality, identity, and loaded language, the volume aims to demystify Eisenstadt's sociology of Israel.

Three major concepts in Eisenstadt's scholarship are explicitly thematized: integration, civilization, and modernities. In each of these foci, the author demonstrates how Eisenstadt's sociological conjectures reproduce dominant Zionist historiographical representations of the past, rationalize prevalent social hierarchies, reinforce the boundaries of a national collective Self, and provide legitimacy to Israel's governing ethnocratic tendencies, underlying the premises of the Zionist settler-colonial project.

Sociological Knowledge and Collective Identity will be of interest to those engaged in exploring the interconnectedness of sociology and political memory, as well as in undertaking a radical postcolonial reconstruction.

Weight: 432g
Dimension: 165 x 241 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781138351837