The bi‐national idea in Israel/Palestine: past and present

Abstract. This article reviews four different advocacies of bi‐nationalism in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Despite the differences in their context, content and style, let alone in motivations and implications, the four advocacies – the ‘old school’ and the ‘new school’ of Jewish bi‐nationalism, contemporary Palestinian bi‐nationalism, and bi‐nationalist advocacy that comes from outside observers – present certain similarities which reduce their chances of becoming a mainstream option: (a) in all cases bi‐nationalism is not the most desirable option; (b) they all gained momentum on both sides in periods of instability – due to transformations in the power relations between them or when the conflict reaches a point where the violence seems to become unbearable; (c) all these bi‐nationalisms present a rather uneasy mixture of moralistic arguments and pragmatic ones; (d) in all cases the people who embrace the bi‐national model are intellectuals. This gives their recommendations a touch of ‘ivory tower’ overrationalisation, further reducing thier public appeal.     

Unpicking Precarity: Informal Work in Eastern India's Coal Mining Tracts

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this article explores two widespread types of informal and precarious work in eastern India's coal mining tracts. It seeks to contribute to recent attempts to disaggregate the umbrella notion of precarity and the related concept of ‘classes of labour’ in the context of the global South. It does so by illuminating the more nuanced yet significant relative distinctions between different forms of precarious coal-related work as perceived and experienced by labourers. The article illustrates how labourers evaluate such forms of work in relation to one another in terms of relative stability, autonomy, tempo and gender dynamics, which affect their livelihood decisions and activities. It thereby turns attention to differentiating dimensions of precarious work that are easily veiled in broad debates about precarity and ‘classes of labour’. Such dimensions are essential to probe — through comparative ethnographic study — to understand how people engage with different modalities of precarious work on the ground and how they configure their livelihood strategies in particular capitalist and social contexts.     

Restructuring of a metropolitan industrial park: case study in Herzeliyya, Israel

The nature and magnitude of the restructuring processes are unveiled in Herzeliyya Industrial Park, a satellite park of metropolitan Tel Aviv. The processes are explored in the context of Israel's recent entry into the post-industrial age and its swift integration into the "global" economy, using survey data of a sample of 104 firms. Since the mid-1980s the park has experienced functional upgrading in a process of "invasion and succession". Upgrading has been accompanied by high "mortality" rates of firms, and by large-scale renewal. Among the attributes reflecting the functional upgrading are the extended spatial reach of firms for clients and joint venturers, and of their organizational affiliations, expanding far beyond the metropolis into the world at large. The newly arriving firms tend to reveal a different set of locational factors than do the veteran ones. Future research avenues are set out.