ABSTRACT
The papers assembled in this volume represent the best selection of studies on political sociology in Israel available to date. As such, this volume both summarizes and reflects the functionalist approach, which has been dominant until recently, and the efforts of the authors to come to grips with the changes in political life in Israel. My essay uses this volume as a point of departure for a critique of this hitherto dominant school of thought. According to the functionalist view, the major problem Israel has faced since its establishment can be analyzed in terms of the processes of adjustment in the existing system, seen best in the acculturation and integration of the new masses of immigrants. Within this functionalist paradigm the developing relations between the immigrant groups and the establishment have not been seen as creating a class problem. Yet it is this emerging process of stratification in Israeli society and its exploitation in populist politics that appears to be central for the understanding of the more recent developments. Hence, although it may seem somewhat unusual, the aim of this essay is not only to criticize this theoretical framework, but at the same time to suggest an alternative approach to the study of politics in Israeli society.
