Uri Cohen

The new Mizrahi middle class: Ethnic mobility and class integration in Israel

This article argues that in recent decades, following the political “turnaround” (mahapakh) in 1977, a distinct new group has appeared on the Israeli scene: the Mizrahi middle class. This social category no longer fits the traditional dichotomies that have steered academic and popular sociological debate in Israel. On the basis of the geographic-spatial changes and the changes in higher education that have taken place in Israel during the past two decades, the article suggests that the Mizrahi middle class is playing a prominent role in the transformations that Israeli society is undergoing, providing a possible source for renewed social integration on a national scale. Israeli sociology is thus called upon to give due consideration not only to the theoretical significance of this group but also to its empirical significance in shaping the collective identity and the ethno-class arena in Israeli society in the coming decades.

“On Your Mark!” Public Discourse after the 1955 Elections

In The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion, Bareli and Cohen expose the attempts of nascent Israels European professional elite to maximize wage gaps between themselves and the new Oriental Jewish proletariat, and the successful resistance of the socialist ruling party, Mapai, to those ambitions.

A Class-Inclusive Strike

In The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion, Bareli and Cohen expose the attempts of nascent Israels European professional elite to maximize wage gaps between themselves and the new Oriental Jewish proletariat, and the successful resistance of the socialist ruling party, Mapai, to those ambitions.

The ‘Engine-Coach Car’ Dilemma: mapai’s Discourse on Class, Ethnicity, and Modernization

In The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion, Bareli and Cohen expose the attempts of nascent Israels European professional elite to maximize wage gaps between themselves and the new Oriental Jewish proletariat, and the successful resistance of the socialist ruling party, Mapai, to those ambitions.

The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion

In The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion, Bareli and Cohen expose the attempts of nascent Israels European professional elite to maximize wage gaps between themselves and the new Oriental Jewish proletariat, and the successful resistance of the socialist ruling party, Mapai, to those ambitions.

“In Torn Soles on a Marble Floor”: The Guri Committee and Sharett Government Debates on White-Collar Workers’ Wages, 1954–1955

In The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion, Bareli and Cohen expose the attempts of nascent Israels European professional elite to maximize wage gaps between themselves and the new Oriental Jewish proletariat, and the successful resistance of the socialist ruling party, Mapai, to those ambitions.

“If they Strike—So be it!” The Socialist Pact to Thwart the Guri Committee Recommendations

In The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion, Bareli and Cohen expose the attempts of nascent Israels European professional elite to maximize wage gaps between themselves and the new Oriental Jewish proletariat, and the successful resistance of the socialist ruling party, Mapai, to those ambitions.

Distributive Justice and the White-Collar Workforce: The Outbreak of Conflict

In The Academic Middle-Class Rebellion, Bareli and Cohen expose the attempts of nascent Israels European professional elite to maximize wage gaps between themselves and the new Oriental Jewish proletariat, and the successful resistance of the socialist ruling party, Mapai, to those ambitions.

Scientific strategists in the period of mamlakhtiyut: Interaction between the academic community and political power centers

In the first decades of the State of Israel an elitist group of scientists and scholars from academic institutions organized itself into a powerful status group. Its members participated in the establishment and development of programs and processes that had a significant impact on Israeli society. The power of this group (which we term “scientific strategists”) derived from personal and institutional cooperation between its members and leading political figures who had a strong influence on its agenda. This interaction was based on mutual trust and loyalty and contributed to establishing the infrastructure for the main political tradition at that time – mamlakhtiyut (the centrality of state interests). The article examines the activities of the scientific strategists, their ability to participate in government institutions without forfeiting their academic bases, and the ways in which political leaders promoted their symbolic status, financially supported their scientific activity, and endowed them with rewards and public recognition.