Exploring the Lived Experiences and Perspectives of Girls and Young Women in Israel-Palestine 

In this special issue, following Mitchell (2012), I seek to develop local knowledge on girls from an international perspective. Three previous special issues of Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal were dedicated to specific geographical-cultural settings: Nordic countries (Mitchell and Reid-Walsh 2013); post-Soviet society (Zdravomyslova and Iarskaia-Smirova 2015); and Western settler states of North America (de Finney et al. 2019). Similarly, my aim in this issue is to contribute to the developing body of global knowledge on girlhood research while also providing specificity to the term girl that, without explicit reference to space and place, tends to be grouped under the less-diversified term girl-culture (Rentschler and Mitchell 2016:1). 

I want to examine girls and girlhoods in Israel from a theoretical perspective that uses concepts and frameworks in girlhood studies to assess the Israeli context and to contribute to the developing global body of knowledge on girlhood. The Israeli case is of particular interest; in terms of economic, scientific, and technological criteria, Israel is a post-industrial nation with a high per capita income. Yet, while the country is experiencing some rising trends of individualization, it is also increasingly conservative, family oriented, and militaristic (Fogiel-Bijaoui 2016). Moreover, Israel is a deeply diverse and divided country and society with a variety of social identities including nationality, ethnicity, religion, and class. The conventional sociological perspective offers four major social and cultural cleavages in Israel: the national cleavage between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs; the ethnic cleavage between Ashkenazi Jews and Mizrahi Jews (or so-called Westerns versus so-called Orientals); the cultural cleavage between secular and religious Jews; and the socioeconomic (or class) cleavage between rich and poor (Ram 2021).  

I aim, in this special issue, to shed light on the unique challenges, triumphs, and narratives that shape the lives of girls in the Israeli context, based on the understanding that these are situated and grounded within local political-social-cultural circumstances. Nonetheless, I note that Israeli girls are influenced by global processes, such as neoliberal economics and ideology, through their exposure to global media and culture.  

Aims and Scope 

For this special issue I invite articles that assess and analyze the multifaceted experiences of girls in Israel, employing concepts, models, and tools that are used globally so as to present a comprehensive interdisciplinary exploration of girlhood in Israel that considers the intersectionality of gender, nationality, race, culture, religion, and social contexts.  

I want to foster a nuanced understanding of the diverse realities that Israeli girls navigate, and provide a platform to examine their agency, empowerment, and contributions to society. The issue will contribute to the growing body of literature on girlhood studies and facilitate critical discussions about girls’ roles, aspirations, and identities given the political-societal-cultural local conditions, while also echoing transnational processes. I welcome original articles that employ a range of theoretical or conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches.  

Themes for Submission 

I invite submissions that address a wide range of themes related to girls in Israel. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: 

Identities and Intersectionality: Exploring the interplay between a variety of social identities, such as gender, nationality, ethnicity religion and culture in shaping the identities of girls in Israel; 

Israeli-Palestine Conflict: Studying the challenges and vulnerabilities of Israeli and Palestinian girls because of the conflict, as well as peacebuilding efforts and intercultural dialogue involving girls; 

Education and Empowerment: Examining the role of formal and non-formal education in fostering empowerment, leadership skills, and self-esteem among girls in Israeli schools and communities; 

Media and Representation: Analyzing the representations of girls in Israeli media, literature, and popular culture and the impact on their self-perception and social roles; 

Social Activism and Agency: Investigating how Israeli girls engage in social, ecological, and political activism, advocating for their rights and social justice causes; 

Family and Gender Dynamics: Exploring family structures and gender roles in Israeli families and their influences on girls' socialization and experiences; 

Health and Well-being: Investigating the physical and mental challenges faced by Israeli girls and the resources available to support their well-being; and 

Digital spaces and Technology: Examining the role of digital technologies and social media in shaping the experiences and relationships of girls in Israel. 

Submission Guidelines 

All articles should be original work and must not be under consideration by other publications. Abstracts (up to 125 words) should be sent to [log in to unmask] Authors should provide a cover page giving brief biographical details (up to 100 words), institutional affiliation(s) and full contact information, including their ORCID ID and an email address. Full manuscripts based on selected abstracts must be between 6,000 and 6,500 words, including title, abstract (up to 125 words), keywords (6 to 8 in alphabetical order) notes, captions and tables, and acknowledgements (if any), biographical details (taken from the cover page), and references. Images in a text count for 200 words each. Girlhood Studies, following Berghahn’s preferred house style, uses a modified Chicago Style. Please refer to the Style Guide http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/_uploads/ghs/girlhood-studies_style_guide.pdf 

If images are used, authors are expected to secure the copyright themselves. 

Schedule 

Abstract submission due: 15 November 2023 

Responses to abstracts due: 15 December 2023 

Full paper submissions due: 15 July 2024 

Expected publication: May 2025 

Guest Editor Bio  

Einat Lachover is an associate professor at Sapir Academic College, Sderot. Her work is dedicated to critical analysis of encounters between gender and a broad range of media forms and contexts, such as gendered construction of news production, gendered discourse in news media, gender ideologies in popular media, and girlhood and media. She has been published in various international journals, and also co-edited Girlhood Bodies: Absent, Hidden, Present  (2017) in Hebrew. 

  

  

  

  

References 

de Finney, Sandrina, Patricia Krueger-Henney, and Lena Palacios. 2019. "Reimagining Girls in White Settler-Carceral States." Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 12 (3): vii–xv. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2019.120302 

Fogiel-Bijaoui, Sylvie. 2016. "Navigating Gender Inequality in Israel: The Challenges of Feminism." In Handbook of Israel: Major Debates, ed. Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Julius, H. Schoeps, Yitzhak Sternberg and Olaf Glöckner, 423–436. Berlin: De Gruyter.  

Mitchell, Claudia. 2012. "Mapping Girlhood Studies: The Journal and the Academic Field. Paper presented at Girlhood Studies: Prospects and Setting an Agenda. Gorbachev Foundation, Moscow, 7 December. 

Mitchell, Claudia, and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh. 2013. Nordic Girls' Studies: Current Themes and Theoretical Approaches. Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 6 (2): 1–2. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2013.060201 

Ram, Uri. 2021. "Sociopolitical Cleavages in Israel. In The Oxford Handbook of Israeli Politics and Society, ed. Reuven Hazan, Alan Dowty, Menachem Hofnung and Gideon Rahat, 123–140. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Rentschler, Carrie A., and Claudia Mitchell. 2016. “Introduction: The Significance of Place in Girlhood Studies. In Girlhood and the Politics of Place, ed. Claudia Mitchell and Carrie Rentschler, 1–15. New York: Berghahn. 

Zdravomyslova, Olga, and Elena Iarskaia-Smirova. 2015. Girlhood Studies in Post-Socialist Times. Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 7 (3): 3–9. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2015.080102 

 

 

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