Liberal Militarism: Conscripting Israeli Soldierly Labour to Occupy Palestinian Territory
Part of the 2024 Spring Colloquium Series
Abstract:How does the Israeli state recruit and maintain soldierly labor in service of the occupation of Palestinian territory? This talk follows youth education programs operated by the Nahal, a hybrid combat-educational brigade of the Israeli military. It explores how Nahal soldiers endeavor to generate continued citizen investment in the “people’s army” in a state with a mandatory draft. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with active-duty soldiers in projects of integration and recruitment in immigrant and poor neighborhoods, Dr. Maya Wind links youth education in Israeli schools and military governance in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Through progressive programming for racial inclusion and even anti-racist education, the Nahal reconfigures the coercion of the Israeli draft and the violent occupation of Palestinians, sustaining the soldierly labor required for Israel’s racial rule.
Date and Time: Thursday, January 11, 2024 12:30pm-2:00pm, followed by a light lunch in the ANSO Lino Lounge
Location: Anthropology & Sociology Building (ANSO) Room 134, 6303 NW Marine Drive
