Courses

This course deals with personal and collective identities and the various manners by which they influence political processes and outcomes. For several authors the politics of identity have influenced badly democracy especially liberal democracy.  What is certain is that the last 20 years have been an era of resurgence of interest in identity and its multifaceted roles in domestic and international politics. This is a field of study and research that includes several fields including history, political science, anthropology, sociology, gender studies and philosophy.

In the course we will introduce, in the first section, the debate from an historical perspective dealing with the debate on identity and antisemitism in France at the early 20^th century, and the development of fascism and national socialism as radical nationalist manifestations of identity.

We shall see next in the second section the emergence of political Zionism as a modern response to that ideological and political turmoil in Europe. We shall analyze what type of nationalism is the Zionist nationalism.   

The third section will analyze how Israeli identity has developed since the early days of the state.   We shall deal with the synthesis of national security, nationalism and democracy, and how the Palestinian challenge affects the delicate balance between democracy and nationalism. 

Finally the fourth section will deal with the post-World War debate on democracy and the   accommodation of minority collective identities, and with the debate on the populist backlash and resurgence of nationalism.  The debate will focus on how Israel navigates in this new world of national populism and deals with the problematic question of whether Israel is becoming a liability for liberal democracy or an example of how the balance of liberalism and democracy may work.