ABSTRACT
This chapter traces sociology of the first three generations of academic mizrahanut, since its inception and until the late 1970s. It examines the investment of academic mizrahanut in colonial relationships, which are often stressed by critics. Notwithstanding the influence of founders, the second generation could not adhere to the same level of segregation and distancing from current affairs as their teachers, nor to their vision of integrating with, and not controlling Arabs. Moreover, from the moment of its formation in 1959, indeed before Tel Aviv University even existed, the governmental Shiloah was seen as a potential menace to Jerusalem's hegemony over the broader expertise and the field's equilibrium, beyond academia. In addition to the mutual arrogance, there was, then, a friction over political views. The national context is key to G3’s sociology and history. The global field of ‘MES’ also expands into the study of North Africa, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, and so on.
