Natan Sznaider: New Israel Institute Visiting Professor

Prof. Nathan Sznaider will be the new Israel Institute visiting professor at LMU during the summer semester 2016.

Sznaider is professor of sociology at the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yafo in Israel. In his research he deals primarily with Jewish political theory and with memory in a globalized age. His most recent books include Herzl reloaded – Kein Märchen (2016), Jewish Memory and the Cosmopolitan Order (2011), and Human Rights and Memory (2010).

On May 3rd, Professor Sznaider will deliver his inaugural lecture „Societies in Israel“ at LMU. He will offer two courses: a seminar entitled “Arendt in Jerusalem: The Holocaust and Memory in Israel” and a lecture course about “Societies and Cultures in Israel”.

Abstract of the inaugural lecture: How can we approach the topic and understand Israel as state, as societies and as cultures? What kind of state is Israel? What does the constitution of a "Jewish State" means in a global, and seemingly secular and enlightened word? Israel is for many of its critics a (west) European anachronism. At a time when in Europe post-nationalism is seemingly on the rise, Israel still insists on its ethnic-national boundaries internally as well as externally. Geographically it lies beyond Europe's borders in Asia and like Turkey it connects to Europe without actually belonging to it. Israel as a "Jewish State" perceives itself through the non-separation of state, nation and religion. They are all interwoven. For many Europeans who believe in the strict separation between state and religion, Israel put itself with this non-separation outside of Europe. However, the role of religion in Israel cannot be grasped through the model of the separation between state and Church. This lecture will try to come to terms with these tensions.