Citizenship and stratification in an ethnic democracy

Gershon Shafir*, Yoav Peled

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

110 Scopus citations

Abstract

A theoretical framework of multiple citizenship discourses is proposed for analysing the transformation of the structure of ethnic relations in the yishuv and Israel. An historical overview indicates how Israel's 'incorporation regime' for its main ethnic and religious groups - ashkenazim, mizrachim, Orthodox-Jews, citizen and non-citizen Palestinians - was constituted through a hierarchical combination of three citizenship discourses: a collectivist republican discourse, based on the civic virtue of 'pioneering' colonization; an ethno-nationalist discourse, based on Jewish descent, and an individualist liberal discourse, based on civic criteria of membership. It is suggested that Israel's historical trajectory has consisted in its gradual transformation from a colonial to a civil society, and concomitantly in the gradual replacement of its republican citizenship discourse by a liberal discourse. Finally, the dilemmas of its ethnic and religious groups in choosing between the liberal and the ethno-nationalist citizenship discourses in the current period are charted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)408-427
Number of pages20
JournalEthnic and Racial Studies
Volume21
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1998

Keywords

  • Citizenship
  • Ethnonationalism
  • Israel
  • Liberalism
  • Palestinians
  • Republican virtue

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