The Israeli Settler Movement: Assessing and Explaining Social Movement Success

Description

The Israeli settler movement plays a key role in Israeli politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict, yet very few empirical studies of the movement exist. This is the first in-depth examination of the contemporary Israeli settler movement from a structural (rather than purely historical or political) perspective, and one of the few studies to focus on a longstanding, radical right-wing social movement in a non-western political context. A trailblazing systematic assessment of the role of the settler movement in Israeli politics writ large, as well as in relation to Israel's policy towards the West Bank, this book analyzes the movement both as a whole and as a combination of its parts (i.e. branches) - institutions, networks, and individuals. Whether you are a student, researcher, or policymaker, this book offers a comprehensive and original theoretical framework alongside a rich empirical analysis which illuminates social movements in general, and the Israeli settler movement in particular.

Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler is a Senior Lecturer in the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel. She has published articles in various journals, including the Journal of Peace Research, British Journal of Political Science, and Foreign Affairs. Cas Mudde is Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia, and Professor II at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo. His other books include The Far Right Today (2019) and Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe (Cambridge, 2007), which won the Stein Rokkan Prize in 2008 and was named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice in 2008.

'More than a comprehensive accounting of the extraordinarily successful settlers' movement, this indispensable analysis explains how a once-marginal radical project built support in politics, media, and the general public. The Israeli Settler Movement is the best critical account of a critically important social movement.' David S. Meyer, Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Planning, Policy, and Design, University of California, Irvine 'Ambitious and innovative in both theory and empirical analysis, this book is the first I've read to offer a full picture of the structure, strength, and success of Israel's settlement movement. This compelling text is full of insights, and will prove of lasting value for students and scholars of social movements, democratic politics, Israel, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the world now confronts the possibility of de jure Israeli annexation in the West Bank, this work could not be more timely.' Tamara Cofman Wittes, Ph.D. Senior Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institution 'This authoritative account of the settler movement is an essential reading for scholars, policymakers and anyone else interested in Israeli politics or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the settler movement has garnered much attention, until this book we have had very little systematic data and analysis to comprehensively understand its present and future impact. Steering clear from polemics and conjecture, this study reveals what social movement theory can teach us about the settler movement, and what the settler movement can teach us about the evolution and success of radical social movements more broadly.' Lihi Ben Shitrit, Assistant Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia, and author of Righteous Transgressions: Women's Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right 'Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler, a prominent scholar of political extremism and Israeli politics, and Cas Mudde, the leading authority in the study of right-wing populism, wrote a masterpiece. This tour de force offers a meticulous analysis of the settlers' movement road to becoming the most influential political actor in Israel. The study is a milestone in the study of social movements and their impact.' Ami Pedahzur, Ralph W. Yarborough Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts, Department of Government, The University of Texas at Austin 'Hirsch-Hoefler and Mudde's book is a fundamental contribution to both the literature on social movements, and the literature on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The book develops a fascinating theory to understand and evaluate social movements' success; and by analyzing the political success of the settlers movement in the Occupied Palestinian territories, it provides an essential perspective to understand Israel's governments approach to the conflict.' Dani Filc, Professor, Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University '... accessible and readable volume ... The authors provide an imaginative, well-structured, theoretical framework for assessing social movement success, supported by empirical evidence, interview data, and discursive analysis to analyze the Israeli settler case. Recommended.' R. A. Harper, Choice