Leading scholars and practitioners of politics, political science, anthropology, Israel studies, and Middle East affairs examine aspects of continuity and change in political culture in tribute to Professor Myron J. Aronoff whose work on political culture has built conceptual and methodological bridges between political science and anthropology.

Ten leading scholars and practitioners of politics, political science, anthropology, Israel studies, and Middle East affairs address the theme of continuity and change in political culture as a tribute to Professor Myron (Mike) J. Aronoff whose work on political culture has built conceptual and methodological bridges between political science and anthropology.

Topics include the legitimacy of the two-state solution, identity and memory, denationalization, the role of trust in peace negotiations, democracy, majority-minority relations, inclusion and exclusion, Biblical and national narratives, art in public space, and avant-garde theater. Countries covered include Israel, Palestine, the United States, the Basque Autonomous Region of Spain, and Poland. The first four chapters by Yael S. Aronoff, Saliba Sarsar, Yossi Beilin, and Nadav Shelef examine aspects of the conflict and peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, including alternative solutions. The contributions by Naomi Chazan, Ilan Peleg, and Joel Migdal tackle challenges to democracy in Israel, in other divided societies, and in the creation of the American public. Yael Zerubavel, Roland Vazquez, and Jan Kubik focus their analyses on aspects of national memory, memorialization, and dramatization. Mike Aronoff relates his work on various aspects of political culture to each chapter in an integrative essay in the Epilogue.

Introduction

Yael S. Aronoff, Ilan Peleg, and Saliba Sarsar

Section I: Conflict and Peace

1. Pathways to Peace: Legitimation of a Two-State Solution

Yael S. Aronoff

2. Memory, Identity, and Peace in Palestinian-Israeli Relations

Saliba Sarsar

3. Denationalization in the Israel-Palestinian Context

Nadav G. Shelef

4. The Ecological Fallacy: “Trust” in International Relations

The Case of the Settlement Freeze in the Oslo Process

Yossi Beilin

Section II: Challenges to Democracy

5. Israel’s Democracy at a Turning Point

Naomi Chazan

6. Majority-Minority Relations in Deeply Divided Democratic Societies:

The Israeli Case in a Globalized Context

Ilan Peleg

7. Creating the Public in a Society of Strangers:

Inclusion and Exclusion in American Cities

Joel Migdal

Section III: National Memory, Memorialization, and Dramatization

8. The Bible Now: Political Satire and National Memory

Yael Zeruvabel

9. Victim Sculpture and an Aesthetic of Basque Politics

Roland Vazquez

10. Tadeusz Kantor’s Theater as an Antidote Against

the Excesses of Nationalism and Idiocy of State Socialism

Jan Kubik

Epilogue

Myron J. Aronoff

Index

About the Contributors