Over the last decade, ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) society in Israel has witnessed the emergence of unorthodox types of social and political activism. Young Haredi Israelis, both men and women, are changing Haredi communal life from below and from within. In this lecture, Professor Kravel-Tovi will draw on the analytic concept of the frontier to explore ethnographically how these unorthodox ultra-Orthodox activists establish, or at least experiment with, new forms of Haredi citizenship and civil society. Rather than emphasizing conformity, activists point to tabooed social problems, criticize communal leaders, and challenge their dictates. In this manner, they work to change communal power structures as well as relations between ultra-Orthodoxy, the Israeli state, and the wider society.
Michal Kravel-Tovi is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University. We are pleased that she will deliver the Olamot Center Inaugural Ronald J. Zabinsky Memorial Lecture.