Why does the critical discourse that has dominated the humanities and social sciences in Israel for the past three decades struggle to attract individuals from the minority groups it seeks to uplift, and even provoke resistance among them? How can liberal and non-liberal groups—sharing a common political space yet deeply divided over conceptions of the good life, the desired socio-political order, and the sources of its legitimacy—coexist? What role do activism and art play in a reality marked by profound moral polarization? And can non-liberal groups—and if so, how—bring about peace and coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel and the region? These are some of the questions that stand at the center of this book.     

Beyond the Liberal Imagination of Critical Research in Israel is a multidisciplinary anthology that aims to break new ground for Israel’s humanities and social sciences. It seeks to expand interpretive boundaries and political imaginative horizons of existing critical discourse. Alongside an analysis of the failures and missed opportunities of the “liberal grammar” of critical discourse—both as a scholarly and political stance—the anthology lays the foundations of an alternative grammar that may serve researchers and social activists striving to understand and transform the lived reality in Israel.

The chapters in this anthology span diverse disciplinary fields and address concrete issues such as Mizrahi identity, the Arab middle class, contemporary Mizrahi cinema, political art, asylum seekers, Jewish–Arab relations, peace, and human rights activism. Each of the chapters, and all of them collectively, demonstrate the difficulty critical discourse faces in offering an insightful interpretation of Israeli culture and society, and illustrate the value of developing an alternative interpretive stance that lies beyond the bounds of liberal imagination.