Paper and Panel at ISA 2013

Next week, Thursday, April 4 at 1:45 pm, I will be speaking on a panel at the upcoming International Studies Association conference in San Francisco. The panel, entitled “Defending the Homeland: Territory & National Identity,” will explore the idea of homeland as a political, social, and cultural construct and how the definition of such a space impacts state territorial policies.

I am very excited to be joined by six esteemed colleagues from a diverse range of backgrounds, methodologies, and theoretical approaches. After the jump, you can find our panel abstract as well as my own paper abstract. For those of my colleagues, log on to the myISA system and check the annual conference program, or send me an email. Hope to see you in San Francisco!

Panel and Paper at AJS Conference

Next week, I will be making a quick trip to Chicago for the annual conference of the Association for Jewish Studies from December 16-18.

I am fortunate to be joining a panel of very talented academics including Arnon Golan, Rachel Havrelock, Jacob Lassner, and Yael Zerubavel to discuss the place of the Land of Israel in contemporary Israeli national memory and politics. I have included the panel abstract and my paper abstract after the jump. For a full listing of our panel and the AJS conference in general, click here.

Symposium: The Two State-Solution: The U.N. Partition of Mandatory Palestine

December 4, 2012 

5:30pm – 7:30pm

The Two State-Solution: The U.N. Partition of Mandatory Palestine – Analysis and Sources

A Book Event in honor of Prof. Ruth Gavison

Introduction 

Professor Joseph H.H. Weiler

Director, Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization Joseph Straus Professor of Law, New York University Law School

Discussion

Dr. Ariel Zellman
Schusterman Postdoctoral Fellow, Taub Center for Israel Studies

Prof. Ronald Zweig
Director, Taub Center for Israel Studies

Response

Professor Ruth Gavison
Haim H. Cohn Professor of Human Rights, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Emerita)
Founder / President of Metzilah Center for Zionist, Jewish, Liberal and Humanist Thought
Joint Straus / Tikvah Fellow 2011-12, New York University School of Law

A kosher reception will follow the program.

Location:

53 Washington Square South, Screening Room

RSVP by Tel. (212) 998-8981 / E-mail fas.taubcenter@nyu.edu / seating limited, registration required.

New Year, New Position

Dear readers, it has been a very busy few months with very little activity on this blog. My apologies, but it has been with good reason. In mid-August, I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation, “Security or Identity? Narratives of State & Nation in International Territorial Conflict Protraction” and can now officially call myself a doctor of philosophy. I suppose that means if you have broken your hubris or have existential queries about the universe, you can give me a call.

I have since relocated to New York University where I am holding a year-long post-doctoral fellowship at the Taub Center for Israel Studies. In the spring semester, I will be teaching a course on Israeli Territorial Politics, and over the summer, I will be teaching a course on Israeli Politics in Comparative Perspective. In the meantime, I am settling into life in the big city, working on conference and journal articles, beginning to prepare my dissertation into a book manuscript, and getting involved with the activities of my center and NYU’s political science department.

I am also now entering the academic job market, which means sending off many many applications to universities around the country, preparing job talks, refining my c.v., and generally trying to sound smart and professional. All of this means that this blog will, in all likelihood, continue to remain somewhat dormant, although I will post about my academic activities as they happen. As always, thanks for staying tuned for my infrequent updates and please feel free to drop me a line here at my new academic home at NYU.

Dissertation Abstract

Security or Identity? Narratives of State & Nation in International Territorial Conflict Protraction

My dissertation explores how popular domestic beliefs regarding the meaning and value of disputed lands contribute to the protraction and resolution of international territorial conflict. Using comparative historical analysis and artefactual field experiments, I find in Israel and Serbia that persistent popular unwillingness to relinquish claims to a “United Jerusalem” and “Kosovo and Metohija” have resulted from the extraordinary position of these territories in their respective national homeland narratives. These outcomes stand in stark contrast to Israel’s largely popular withdrawals from the Sinai Peninsula, Southern Lebanon, and Gaza Strip, dominantly valued as strategic rather than cultural assets. They also contrast with Serbia’s acquiescence to the political independence of both Bosnia and Montenegro, spaces of high concern for Serb political self-determination but relatively low territorial-cultural priority. The Golan Heights and the West Bank are also analyzed as disputed spaces wherein strategic and cultural narratives continue to contribute to conflict protraction. In doing so, I demonstrate how particular strategic and cultural narratives come to dominate public discourse over disputed spaces and, in turn, how these narratives constrain the policies states can legitimately pursue in these spaces. Ultimately, I find that popular perceptions of national identity can be as powerful a force in determining government policy as state security prerogatives.

Dissertation Committee:
Will Reno (Chair), Hendrik Spruyt, Jason Seawright

Presentations at ISA and MPSA

Over the last month, I have been traveling in the United States visiting friends and family and attending academic conferences. In particular, I spoke at this year’s annual International Studies Association conference in San Diego and gave a poster session at the Midwest Political Science Association meeting in Chicago.

For both conferences, I presented what will hopefully become a chapter of my dissertation. It examines the results of an experiment I conducted last year in Israel on political narratives and popular attitudes toward territorial compromise in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Those with access to the MyISA database can read the paper here. If you do not have access but would like to read it, please contact me by email. If you would like to see the post, contact me by email for a copy in compressed form. The abstract can be viewed after the jump.

2011: A Blog Year in Review

Hey Folks, happy new year! If you believe the Mayans, this might be our last one, so listen up.

I have not been posting much of late which is the bad news. The good news is that I have been making slow but steady progress on my dissertation and, despite my lack of regular updates, the readers just keep coming.

Here’s a summary of some of the more interesting statistics from the past year. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts about politics, history, culture, and academia in the near future.