Yuval Yonay

Backpacking experiences: a type and form analysis.

Abstract This paper questions the notion of backpacking as a distinct category of tourism by distinguishing between its type- and form-related attributes. The analysis of such differentiation refers to phenomenological typology of tourist experiences and the distinction between institutionalized and non-institutionalized tourism. Based on 38 in-depth interviews with Israeli backpackers to various destinations, the study reveals their heterogeneous nature in terms of its type-related aspect. In addition, the study indicates that they comply with most of the conventional form-related attributes. These findings suggest that backpacking should be regarded as a form rather than a type of tourism.

‘Play and shut up’: the silencing of Palestinian athletes in Israeli media

Abstract In this paper we contrast two opposing theoretical views in the sociology of sport. The first sees sport as a field that brings together different groups and bridges social divides. In this view, minority sport stars serve both as role models and as a mouthpiece voicing the feelings and needs of their ethnic groups. The opposing view holds that the sport field reflects the tendencies of the larger society, helping to maintain the social dominance of hegemonic groups. In this view sport stars serve mostly as tokens and have no real influence on the social order. Our systematic analysis of Israeli media between the years 2002 and 2007 lends support to the latter view. We show that the expressions and behaviours of Israeli Palestinian soccer players are consistently policed and silenced by the Jewish-dominated media discourse, effectively blocking one of the few channels of expression for the Arab public in Israel.

Strategies of economic endurance: Israeli Palestinians in the ethnic economy and the public sector

Abstract This chapter reports the results of comparative analysis of the socioeconomic achievements (income, occupational prestige, standard of living, job power characteristics) of four groups of Palestinian citizens of Israel: employees in the Palestinian-owned businesses, employees in the dominant (Jewish-owned) economy, employees in the public sector, and self-employed workers. The findings indicate that Israeli Palestinians have two paths to overcome barriers for advancement in the main economy. The first option, economic entrepreneurship, is realized mostly by joining a family business, while the second option, public employment, is more meritocratic and depends upon formal education. Private-sector employees are almost equally disadvantaged in both segments of the economy. The Palestinian economy, however, is important for offering the possibility of self-employment, and given the unfeasibility of assimilation, the ethnic economy is certainly vital for the well-being of Palestinians. We argue that this situation is typical to ethnic minorities in post-colonial societies, in which ethnic separation is deeply engraved into the social structure.

Sport, National Identity, and Media Discourse over Foreign Athletes in Israel

This article looks at the perception of Jewish-Israeli nationality and the boundaries of the Israeli collective, as reflected in the media coverage of foreign basketball and soccer players during the years 2002–2006. We show that while foreign athletes play a central role in the efforts of Israeli sport clubs, they remain largely excluded from the Israeli collective. At times they are partially included in the collective via discourses that emphasize their contribution to the “common good.” However, this inclusion remains provisional and incomplete. Much like in other countries, it is contingent on excellence on the court. We also show the dominance of a unique ethno-Jewish discourse, demanding that foreign and naturalized players, especially if they are not Jewish, constantly pronounce their loyalty to the state and demonstrate familiarity with the Jewish people and their religion, language, and traditions.

Ethnicity, Gender, and Exclusion: Which Occupations Are Open to Israeli Palestinian Women?

When we started our research into Palestinian women’s employment in Israel several years ago, very few people, either in academia or outside, were interested. In sociology, Israeli researchers were concerned with comparing either Mizrahim and Ashkenazim, or Palestinian and Jewish men. But Palestinian women were not very present in the labor market, and it was therefore easy to ignore them. Following a very slow and long upward trend that started in the 1960s, labor force participation rate of Palestinian women in the beginning of the twenty-first century was about 20 percent, a very low figure compared with the much higher labor force participation of Jewish women (Yonay and Kraus 2009).

Ethnic and gender earning gaps in a liberalized economy: The case of Israel

During the 1990s and the 2000s Israel, a country ethnically divided into a dominant Jewish majority and a disadvantaged mostly Muslim Palestinian minority, underwent a transition from a heavily regulated to a neo-liberal economy. This paper makes use of the Israeli case to shed light on the effect of liberalization on earning gaps in the public and private sectors across dominant and disadvantaged population groups. The data, drawn from the 1995 and 2008 censuses-years that encompass the transition period, enable a dynamic investigation of the liberalization process by comparing labor market outcomes for Israeli Jews and Muslims of both genders working in the public or private sector. Liberalization reduced the protective role of the public sector, especially hurting women of both ethnic groups. In the private sector this process improved the position of the strongest group of Jewish men and of the weakest group of Muslim women. Discrimination against Jewish women and Muslim men in the private sector increased.

Religious Heterogeneity and Cultural Diffusion: The Impact of Christian Neighbors on Muslim and Druze Women’s Participation in the Labor Force in Israel

This study exploits the unique demographic structure of the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel and their geographical immobility in order to help resolve the riddle why women in the Middle East and North Africa are less likely to participate in the labor force than women elsewhere in the world. We show that, controlling for economic variables, Muslim and Druze Arab women are more likely to enter the labor force if they live in a locality where Christian Arabs live as well. A possible explanation of this finding is the impact of social interaction among people who have different cultural schemas. Female labor force participation is rising throughout the Middle East, including among Arab-Palestinians in Israel, but the tempo of this transformation depends on various local variables, and in this article we identify one such factor, namely, the ethno-religious composition of a community.

Class Analysis and Earnings Inequality: Nested and Non-Nested Comparisons of Two Class Models in Israel

This paper demonstrates how nesting and non-nesting analytical strategies provide different answers regarding the comparative utility of theoretical models. This paper demonstrates this incompatibility by testing the empirical efficacy of Goldthorpes and Wrights class schemes in explaining earnings inequality in Israel. These models are non-nested, because while they partially overlap each other conceptually and empirically, neither can be written as a parametric restriction of the other. As they are non-nested, we cannot test each model against the other by using the conventional sociological approach to hypotheses testing. For the sake of demonstration, however, we show results obtained from the conventional Ordinary Least Squares regression models with conventional Baysian Information Coefficient statistic, serving as criterion for a decision rule. Wrights model was found to be more significant in explaining earnings variations in Israeli society. Yet when we used two models of non-nested specification tests (the Cox-Pesaran model and the J test) to examine each models unique contribution, neither of these models were able to reject the rival hypothesis.

Backpacking memories: a retrospective approach to the narratives of young backpackers

ABSTRACT Numerous studies have found that backpackers experience their trips as highly meaningful, to the point of being transformative. Whereas the majority of these studies were conducted not long after the return of the backpackers, when the experience was still fresh in their minds, the current exploratory study is a response to call to study the deep and enduring impact of tourist experiences that raises the question of whether the influence reported by many backpacker travellers survives the test of time. The participants consisted of 20 interviewees whose first backpacking trip took place at least eight years prior to their interviews. Participants were first administered a preliminary questionnaire, which was followed by a narrative interview. The experiences of our interviewees have indeed transformed into meaningful memories of the profound inner processes they experienced during their trips, and those memories have endured for many years. They remember the trips vividly and still regard them as gratifying experiences that played a significant role in shaping their personalities and later life choices. On this basis, we advocate future research on backpacking, and on tourism in general, that considers the memories and retrospective perceptions of travellers over the years and not just immediately upon their return.

Gender Earnings Gaps in Ethnic and Religious Groups in Israel

In spite of the increase of women’s educational achievements and their intrusion into lucrative jobs, a female-male pay gap still persists in almost all nations,1 but its size varies greatly across countries. According to OECD statistics, gender pay gaps are largest in Asian countries (Japan, 26.6 percent; Korea, 36.6 percent) and smallest in New Zealand (5.6 percent), Belgium (6.4 percent), and Norway (7.0 percent); the OECD average has continued to go down from 18.2 percent in 2000 to 15.3 a decade later (OECD 2015).2