The Chosen Body The Politics of the Body in Israeli Society [Hardcover]

This book examines how the social and cultural paradigms of contemporary Israel are articulated through the body. To construct a panoramic view of how the Israeli body is chosen, regulated, cared for, and ultimately made perfect, the author draws upon some twenty years of ethnographic research in Israel in a range of subjects. These include premarital and prenatal screening, the regulation of the body and its imagery among appearance-impaired children and their families, the screening and sanctifying of the body as part of the bereavement and commemoration of fallen soldiers, and the discourse of the chosen body as it surfaces during terrorist attacks, military socialization, war, and the peace process. The Chosen Bodydemonstrates that passionate scholarship is not an oxymoron . . . . [This] is a great ethnography of how societies shape bodies, but its importance as a work of moral testimony may be even greater. The Chosen Bodyis thought-provoking and has far-reaching importance and relevance for all students of human behavior. This book examines how the social and cultural paradigms of contemporary Israel are articulated through the body, constructing a panoramic view of how the Israeli body is chosen, regulated, cared for, and ultimately made perfect.Meira Weiss is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.