ABSTRACT
The disciplinary use of sociological terminology bears the potential to both produce representations of society and reify existing ones. Based on the analysis presented throughout the book, it is concluded that Eisenstadt’s sociology of Israel has discursively constructed the image of its object of study, namely, “Israeli society”, according to predefined categories. It bequeathed the Israeli collective with subjectivity, coherency, continuity, and distinctiveness, and provided the rationalization for Israel’s image as a modern new-old nation. Eisenstadt’s studies of Israeli society did not seek to challenge Zionist myths and narratives. On the contrary, their incorporation into the sociological analysis resulted in their reproduction as unquestioned truths. Eisenstadt’s sociology of Israel is therefore conceptualized as a site of memory – a mnemonic sphere where this national collective self was constructed.
Being a site of memory, Eisenstadt’s studies of Israel have also constituted a realm of forgetfulness, where counter-narratives have been omitted from the sociological analysis, despite their historical and social significance. Eisenstadt’s sociology of Israel is not disconnected from Zionism’s settler-colonial episteme, but rather tended to eclipse the settler-colonial context. Analyzing Eisenstadt’s sociological conjectures paves the way for thinking of radical sociology that accounts for its terminological, conceptual, and epistemic roots.
