On Israel colonial imagination and its contribution to shaping its moral geography: Haim Yacobi, Israel and Africa: A Genealogy of Moral Geography, Routledge, 2015 | settler colonial studies blog

On Israel colonial imagination and its contribution to shaping its moral geography: Haim Yacobi, Israel and Africa: A Genealogy of Moral Geography, Routledge, 2015

10Jul15

Description: Israel and Africa critically examines the ways in which Africa – as a geopolitical entity – is socially manufactured, collectively imagined but also culturally denied in Israeli politics. Its unique exploration of moral geography and its comprehensive, interdisciplinary research on the two countries offers new perspectives on Israeli history and society.

Through a genealogical investigation of the relationships between Israel and Africa, this book sheds light on the processes of nationalism, development and modernization, exploring Africa’s role as an instrument in the constant re-shaping of Zionism. Through looking at “Israel in Africa” as well as “Africa in Israel”, it provides insightful analysis on the demarcation of Israel’s ethnic boundaries and identity formation as well as proposing the different practices, from architectural influences to the arms trade, that have formed the geopolitical concept of “Africa”. It is through these practices that Israel reproduces its internal racial and ethnic boundaries and spaces, contributing to its geographical imagination as detached not solely from the Middle East but also from its African connections.

This book would be of interest to students and scholars of Middle East and Jewish Studies, as well as Post-colonial Studies, Geography and Architectural History.

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