New Book: Lavie, from HaBurganim to In Treatment (in Hebrew)

Lavie, Noa. From HaBurganim to . Tel Aviv: Resling, 2015 (in Hebrew).

 

 

 

Against the flood of a global and local television genre considered “inferior” – “reality” TV – there are growing public, official, and scholarly voices who distinguish between purely commercial television and quality, or even artistic, television. The quality discourse, which originated in the United States, revolves mainly around serialized drama shows, which as a television genre is even a competitor to the cinema in its artistic innovation.

Israeli television is heavily influenced by this global quality discourse. Moreover, during the 1990s Israeli television was revolutionized with the privatization of the television market in Israel and the establishment of commercial TV channels and cable and satellite channels. This revolution enabled, in parallel with the institutionalization of the global quality discourse, the production of original Israeli TV drama series immeasurably higher than during the sole reign of the IBA. Accordingly, this book explores how the serialized television drama became a “quality” television genre which is treated as a work of art in every respect.

This book does not deny the possibility that there is such thing as “high art,” or television productions that bears artistic marks; but Noa Lavie’s sociological spotlight seeks to illumine the struggles and the social and organizational causes that defined, beginning in the 1990s and down to the first decade of the 2000s, drama series such as “The Bourgeois” or “In Treatment”, along with other series, as high-quality and artistic television. This is achieved through an analysis of interviews with prominent creators of television drama in Israel, analysis of TV reviews published in major newspapers, and an account of the institutional-organizational field and the technological, regulatory, and other changes it underwent in the early 1990s.

 

Dr. Noa Lavi is the head of the political communication division and a lecturer in the School of Government and Society at Tel Aviv-Yaffo Academic College.

 

 

 

New Article: Waichman et al, Reciprocity in Labor Market Relationships

Waichman, Israel, Ch’ng Kean Siang, Till Requate, Aric P. Shafran, Eva Camacho-Cuena, Yoshio Iida, and Shosh Shahrabani. “Reciprocity in Labor Market Relationships: Evidence from an Experiment across High-Income OECD Countries.” Games 6.4 (2015): 473-94.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/g6040473

 

Abstract

We study differences in behavior across countries in a labor market context. To this end, we conducted a bilateral gift-exchange experiment comparing the behavior of subjects from five high-income OECD countries: Germany, Spain, Israel, Japan and the USA. We observe that in all countries, effort levels are increasing while rejection rates are decreasing in wage offers. However, we also find considerable differences in behavior across countries in both one-shot and repeated relationships, the most striking between Germany and Spain. We also discuss the influence of socio-economic indicators and the implications of our findings.

 

 

New Article: Lavie & Dhoest, Quality Television in the Making

Lavie, Noa, and Alexander Dhoest. “‘Quality Television’ in the Making: The Cases of Flanders and Israel.” Poetics (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2015.08.006

 

Abstract

This article discusses the properties of ‘quality television’ as constructed within the field of television production. It does so by analyzing the discourse of television creators and critics in two countries, Israel and Flanders, taking a theoretical approach based in part on Bourdieusian theory. Most academic work about ‘quality television’ concentrates on Anglo-American television drama series. In this paper we offer a different perspective by focusing on two small but prosperous television markets outside of the Anglo-American world. Our findings suggest that the quality discourse in both countries contains autonomous-artistic alongside heteronomous-capitalist ideological elements, apparently under the influence of the Anglo-American discourse of quality. Our findings also suggest that both ideological elements contribute to the cultural legitimation of the television drama series in both countries, though the capitalist discourse plays a more evident role among creators than among critics. Finally, we also discuss the differences between the Flemish and the Israeli discourses of ‘quality television.’

 

 

New Article: Horkin et al, Organizational Performance and Executive Pay in Israel’s System of Higher Education

Horkin, Amir, Baruch Mevorach, and Ytzhak Katz. “Organizational Performance and Executive Pay in Israel’s System of Higher Education.” Business and Management Studies 1.2 (2015): 55-65.

 
URL: http://redfame.com/journal/index.php/bms/article/view/874 [PDF]

 

Abstract
In the business sector, the relationship between performance and pay is mostly measured with reference to an organization’s business results on the one hand and the pay awarded to its senior management on the other hand. The present research shifts the analytical focus to the third sector and to higher-education institutions, assessed in their case—where the notion of profitability loses its relevance—on their performance as perceived by their clients, namely the student body. Our research results point to a positive, strong and significant relationship between performance and executive pay (with a one-year lag) and to a positive, weak and significant relationship between executive pay and performance (again, with a one-year lag). Furthermore, it is the state-funded (hereinafter: budgeted) colleges, where executive pay was by far the lowest, that achieved the highest satisfaction score (averaging 2011 and 2013), despite a slight drop in satisfaction observed in this category from 2011 to 2013. Taken together, however, higher-education institutions saw their satisfaction scores increase in 2013 compared to 2011. The paper leaves aside research performance rankings of higher-education institutions, due to the fact that most institutions in Israel are teaching oriented. As a matter of fact, only few Israeli universities are ranked by international ranking organizations. Furthermore, unfortunately, Israel does not have a formal system of higher education institutions research rankings. In the paper, a large body of literature on performance-related pay in school teaching is not covered.

 

 

New Article: Shmueli, Calculation of the Israeli Risk Adjustment Rates

Shmueli, Amir. “On the Calculation of the Israeli Risk Adjustment Rates.” European Journal of Health Economics 16.3 (2015): 271-277.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10198-014-0572-x

 

Abstract

Objective

The Israeli risk adjustment formula, introduced in 1995 and which serves for the allocation of the health budget to the sickness funds, is unique compared to countries with a similar national health insurance system in that it is not calculated on the basis of actual cost data of the sickness funds but on the basis of quantities retrieved from surveys. The current article aims to analyze the implications of the Israeli methodology.

Methods

The article examines the validity of the Israeli methodology used to set the 2004 risk adjustment rates and compare these rates with the “correct” ones, which are derived from the 2004 internal relative cost scales of the sickness funds.

Results

The Israeli methodology ignores services provided by the sickness funds and assumes constant unit cost across the sickness funds, an assumption which is implausible. Comparing the actual and the “correct” rates, it turns out that the actual rates over-compensate all the sickness funds for members in age 0–14, and under-compensate them for insurees aged 55+. In age 0–4, the over-compensation per capita is about NIS 1,500 while the under-compensation in age group 75+ reaches NIS 1,600.

Conclusions

The current risk adjustment formula distorts the intended competition on good quality care among the sickness funds, and turns it into a competition on profitable members. After 18 years of using incorrect rates, the Israeli risk adjustment rates should be calculated, as is common in other systems, based on individual cost data from the sickness funds.

 

New Article: Rabkin, From Left to Right – Israel’s Repositioning in the World

Rabkin, Yakov M. “From Left to Right – Israel’s Repositioning in the World.” IDE Middle East Review 2 (2015): 80-102.

 
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2344/1448 [PDF]

 

Excerpt
In the course of a few decades, the image of Israel has undergone a radical transformation. From one of an underdog, a successful socialist experiment and an incarnation of left-wing collectivist utopias it has turned into an assertive militarized state with an advanced economy open for foreign investment and a society deeply polarized between Arabs and non-Arabs, and between rich and poor. It is not surprising that the Zionist state of Israel appeals to rightists around the world.

Israel embodies not only a successful, albeit small-scale, attempt to re-colonize the world but also the belief that, as Margaret Thatcher used to say, “there is no alternative”. The campaign to discredit socialist alternatives, from the mildly socialdemocratic Sweden to the more regulated Soviet Union, makes good use of the little country in Western Asia. The state of Israel, in spite of its socialist origins, has come to symbolize the many features of globalized capitalism and of habitual reliance on force. While certainly not the most right-wing regime in existence, Israel has nonetheless become a beacon for right-wing movements around the world thanks to a gamut of ideological, political, economic and military values contained in political Zionism. This is why the right and the extreme right have come to constitute the backbone of Israel’s international support.

 

 

New Article: Sabar and Pagis, African Labor Migrants Returning from Israel

Sabar, Galia, and Michal Pagis. “Enhancing the Spirit of Entrepreneurship: African Labor Migrants Returning from Israel.” Migration Studies 3.2 (2015): 260-80.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnu045

 

Abstract

Contemporary studies on return migration express a growing interest in the cultural and social dimensions of its economic development. In this article we aim to extend this interest by focusing on economic values returning migrants bring back with them to their countries of origin, captured in what we call the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’. The article is based on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork with Sub-Saharan African labor migrants both in Israel and after their return to their country of origin. Utilizing a Weberian perspective on the connection between values and economic action, we illustrate that even though African migrants work in menial jobs in Israel and very few acquire professional training, they come to utilize Israel as an informal space for the enhancement of a ‘spirit of entrepreneurship’. This spirit contains three valuative transformations: a transformation concerning time (including a valuing of the future over the present); a transformation concerning individual action (replacing the primacy of community with a focus on individual flourishing)-Sahara; and a transformation in social relations (extending trust beyond friends and family to economic partners). These transformations are in line with economic values underlying a capitalist economic system. The expression of these value orientations acts as an important factor through which African countries have become increasingly interlinked and influenced by neoliberal culture. Yet, as the testimonies of African labor migrants reveal, local social structures reside side by side with this imported spirit of entrepreneurship. This hybridity may lead to increased opportunities, but also to feelings of estrangement and frustration.

Summer Seminar: Tikvah Israel Student Seminars (BA and MA students; apply by Apr 14, 2015)

The Tikvah Israel Summer Student Seminars

Dates: August 2-13 or 16-27, 2015
Location: Jerusalem
Instructors: Ran Baratz, Ruth Wisse, Meir Soloveichik, Asael Abelman, Michael Doran, Vance Serchuk, and Samuel Gregg

The Tikvah Fund is offering three different two-week seminars for Israeli advanced BA and MA students.

The seminar on Zionism will take place from August 2 until August 13. Asael Abelman will lead it, alongside Ran Baratz, Ruth Wisse, and Meir Soloveichik. Throughout, we will examine Zionist thought and history, especially as it relates to Judaism. Is Zionism the fulfillment of or an alternative to traditional Jewish life?

The seminar on Economics and Freedom will take place from August 16 until August 27. Ran Baratz and Samuel Gregg will discuss modern liberal economic principles as shaped by major thinkers like Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek, the world economy and the Israeli economy, and the reforms that would benefit Israel.

The seminar on War and Strategy will also take place from August 16 until August 27 and it will be led by Michael Doran and Vance Serchuk. The first week will be devoted to the causes of war and peace, and some of the strategies that states have pursued to contend with the former and promote the latter. The second week will interpret American policy in the Middle East.

Applications are open until April 14, 2015.

New Book: Krampf, The National Origins of the Market Economy (in Hebrew)

קרמפף, אריה. המקורות הלאומיים של כלכלת השוק. פיתוח כלכלי בתקופת עיצובו של הקפיטליזם הישראלי. ירושלים: מאגנס, 2015.

 

 

URL: http://www.magnespress.co.il/

 

About the Book

During the consolidation of Israeli capitalism, economic policy went through dramatic changes that reflected the key challenges of its society, the power relations between various groups of Israeli political economy, and the changes in worldviews and economic theories in the global arena. This book surveys the shifts in economic worldviews that guided the policymakers of of the State of Israel, and identifies the causes of these changes. The book is based on a variety of historical documents, some of which did not gain scholarly attention so far, and illuminates many issues from a new perspective. It also exposes unknown episodes in the history of political economy of the pre-State years and of Israel. The author presents this economic history in a clear and coherent storyline, readily accessible to readers. This cohesion is achieved through a crystallized and innovative theoretical framework. The book focuses on the period from the 1930s to the year 1967. However, readers will be able to better understand the nature of the relations between the state and the market today and gain insights about Israel’s economic and political future. (Yuval Yonay)

The author presents his readers, both professionals and the general public, with data, analasis and a narrative which will surprise many of them. Many will be surprised to learn that the planners of Israeli economy were far less socialist than they are told to be, and that the process of the formation of Israeli capitalism began long before the era of liberalization and globalization. (Guy Rolnik)

For a full Table of Contents (in Hebrew) click here (PDF).

New Book: Wilhelm and Gust, eds. New Towns for a New State (German)

Wilhelm, Karin and Kerstin Gust, eds. Neue Städte für einen neuen Staat. Die städtebauliche Erfindung des modernen Israel und der Wiederaufbau in der BRD. Eine Annäherung. Bielefeld: transcript, 2013.

URL: http://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-2204-1/neue-staedte-fuer-einen-neuen-staat

Abstract

Israel and Palestine – What is today presented as a seemingly hopeless political situation, began with optimism, albeit a naive dream, towards building a peaceful society for all religions with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. For this purpose, the economist Edgar Salin (1892-1974) founded in 1958 “The Israel Economic and Sociological Research Project (IESRP),” which was to play a central role in the establishment of the “new towns” in Israel. The contributions here examine for the first time in a systematic way this project and its cultural and political importance, as well as relevant topics including planning debates and construction issues in the Federal Republic of Germany.

With contributions by Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Meron Benvenisti, Jörn Düwel, Zvi Efrat, Anton Föllmi, Rachel callus, Ruth Kark, Anna Minta, Andreas Nachama, Willi Oberkrome, Martin Peschken, Bertram Schefold, Axel Schildt, Julius H. Schoeps, Korinna Schönhärl, Yaakov Sharett, Thomas Sieverts, Joachim Trezib, Stefan Vogt, Georg Wagner Kyora, Karin Wilhelm, Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn and Moshe Zuckermann.

Click here for a Table of Contents (in German)

New Article: Lentin and Moreo, Migrant Deportability: Israel and Ireland as Case Studies

Lentin, Ronit and Elena Moreo. “Migrant Deportability: Israel and Ireland as Case Studies.” Ethnic and Racial Studies (ahead of print).

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2014.948477

 

Abstract

This article critiques policies of deportation and deportability – a technology emanating from three seemingly conflicting rationalities: states’ obligations under international human rights regimes, capitalism’s need to facilitate the movement of labour, and the need to reaffirm state sovereignty. After outlining the concept of deportability, we argue that although justified by state actors as an integral part of asylum and immigration policies, deportability epitomizes the paradox of immigration regimes at a point of crisis. We use Israel and Ireland as case studies to illustrate that migrant deportability circumvents human rights and domestic legislation that hinder the power of the state to deport unwanted migrants. Paradoxically, in both, policies that engender the deportability of asylum seekers are a response to their undeportability. Despite their differences, Israel and Ireland are unusual immigration destinations and quintessential diaspora nations, whose histories of dispersal configure Jewishness and Irishness in ethno-racially rigid yet spatially fluid terms, as illustrated by their citizenship regimes.

New Article: Avigur-Eshel, Ideological Foundations of Neoliberalism’s Political Stability: An Israeli Case Study

Avigur-Eshel, Amit. “The Ideological Foundations of Neoliberalism’s Political Stability: An Israeli Case Study.” Journal of Political Ideologies 19.2 (2014): 164-86.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13569317.2014.909261

 

Abstract

The importance of ideological beliefs held by the masses for the political stability of neoliberalism has yet to receive adequate attention. This research aims to begin to fill this gap by arguing that the ability of the neoliberal order to endure politically is assisted by key segments of the population either accepting its ideological bases or being unable to contest them. Political and socio-political research on neoliberalism tends to examine how it has become the leading framework for economic policymaking. Less attention has been given to the post rise-to-power period and even then the ideological factor is virtually absent. Directed by a Gramscian approach, this research uses the Israeli ‘social protest’ of 2011 as a case study. It probes into the ideological perceptions of the middle class through a qualitative content analysis of text-items they published during the protest on two news websites and on one blogging website. Findings indicate that significant segments of the Israeli middle class expressed ideological acceptance of neoliberalism either by explicitly supporting it or by demanding marginal reforms. Another finding is that within the middle class there is a group that lacks any relevant ideological framework regarding economic issues.

New Book: Elbaz, Loyalty to the Source (in Hebrew)

Elbaz, Sagi. Loyalty to the Source: Media, Ideology and Political Culture in Israel. Tel Aviv: Resling, 2014 (in Hebrew).

URL: http://www.resling.co.il/book.asp?series_id=3&book_id=756

אלבז, שגיא. נאמנות למקור. תקשורת, אידיאולוגיה ותרבות פוליטית בישראל. תל אביב: רסלינג, 2014.

על רקע חילופי האליטות וחוסר היציבות במערכת הפוליטית, ולאור השינויים המבניים במפה התקשורתית, ניתן היה לצפות שכלי התקשורת ישקפו את התמורות הסוציו-פוליטיות בישראל. ציפייה זו מתבססת על הנחה מוקדמת, ערכית ביסודה, שעל תקשורת המונים בחברה דמוקרטית מוטלת האחריות לקיים שוק חופשי של רעיונות ולייצג מנעד רחב של דעות במרחב הציבורי. ואולם ספרו של שגיא אלבז מגלה שקיימים פערים גדולים בין סוגיות הליבה בשיח התקשורתי לבין התכנים השוטפים. לטענת אלבז, התקשורת משקפת את התמורות הפוליטיות, הביטחוניות והכלכליות בחברה הישראלית, במיוחד על רקע שינויים במאפייני האליטה הפוליטית והחברתית, אבל יחסה לנושאי ליבה לאומיים אינו משתנה באופן יסודי.

המחבר מפתח מודל אשר מניח ששלוש קבוצות כוח – אליטות פוליטיות, צבאיות וכלכליות – הממוקמות במוקדי הכוח המרכזיים של החברה הישראלית משתמשות בכלי התקשורת כדי לגייס הסכמה ציבורית רחבה לסדר הקיים וכדי להצדיק את שלטונן. בין השאר הן מגבשות ליבה ערכית-קונצנזואלית שעיקריה הם: לאומיות יהודית, תרבות ביטחונית וליברליזם כלכלי. כל אחת מסוגיות הליבה האלה מיוצרת, משוכפלת ומופצת להמונים בתיווך אמצעי התקשורת – אותם מנגנוני הסכמה אידיאולוגיים הכפופים לאליטות. לצד ניתוח תוכן עשיר, הספר מכיל ראיונות עומק עם פוליטיקאים ועיתונאים בכירים אשר שופכים אור על דפוסי העבודה של המדיה ועל מידת המעורבות של האליטות בעיצוב סוגיות הליבה בתקשורת הישראלית.

הספר נאמנות למקור מתבסס על עבודת הדוקטור של המחבר, אשר זיכתה אותו בפרס הדוקטורט המצטיין במדע המדינה לשנת 2013, מטעם האגודה הישראלית למדע המדינה.

ד”ר שגיא אלבז הוא חוקר, עורך ומומחה לתקשורת פוליטית. ספרו הראשון, “דעת מיעוט בעיתונות העברית – ייצוג האוכלוסייה הערבית במרחב ציבורי משתנה” (הוצאת דיונון, 2013), זכה לשבחי הביקורת.