The Crisis of Statehood

Abstract

This paper proposes a conceptual distinction of political organizations from state and society, providing an enhanced theoretical framework in the analysis of state autonomy. This theoretical argument is based on an analysis of Israel's transition to statehood, and the development of the relations between the Israeli Labor Institutional Complex (LIC) and the state. Jewish labor organizations were established amidst the historical conditions of a weak (colonial) state and a split labor market, which served to enhance the strength of the LIC vis-a-vis the state and workers. The large political and economic changes that followed statehood and industrialization failed to change the LIC's organizational features. The institutionalization of the occupation and the state's weakness after 1967 can be explained by the compatibility of the new structural characteristics to the institutional needs of the LIC.

Keywords

Labor Institutional Complex split labor market state autonomy Zionist Labor Movement

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