The Turn to Tradition in the Study of Jewish Politics

Posted: 13 May 2016

See all articles by Julie Cooper

Julie Cooper

Tel Aviv University - Department of Political Science

Date Written: May 2016

Abstract

This article traces the political, intellectual, and disciplinary motivations behind the establishment of the field of Jewish political thought, and pursues implications of the field's establishment for the dynamics of Jewish political debate. Jewish political thought is decisively marked by the experience of statelessness. Thus, to establish the possibility of a Jewish political tradition, scholars have had to abandon or relax the received view that sovereignty is the defining horizon for politics. Although the pervasiveness of politics is the field's animating conviction, scholars have yet to mount a sufficiently forceful challenge to sovereignty's conceptual and political priority. This review surveys the reasons why scholars have been reluctant to pursue alternative, diasporic conceptions of the political, focusing on their notions of what constitutes a tradition. The article contends that developing a more ambitious conception of the Jewish political tradition is a prerequisite for encouraging political debate about sovereignty's importance for Jewish political agency.

Suggested Citation

Cooper, Julie, The Turn to Tradition in the Study of Jewish Politics (May 2016). Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 19, pp. 67-87, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2779557 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-042314-125449

Julie Cooper (Contact Author)

Tel Aviv University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Tel Aviv
Israel

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