The relationship between mothers and sons has been explored for ages. From Oedipus to Al Brooks' Mother, we are fascinated by the familial bond between a mother and her son. This groundbreaking work looks at many untouched areas of the mother-son relationship including race, sexuality and ability. The contributors to this collection speak from the heart and explore how the institution of motherhood oppresses women, impedes mother-son identification and fosters sexism. The impact of the feminist movement on the mother-son relationship, which has been previously neglected in literature, is explored in-depth in Mothers and Sons _ . These deeply personal reflections includes stories of lesbian mothers identifying challenges in raising sons in our heterosexist culture as well as black mothers and sons and Jewish mothers. For all with an interest in family issues, gender issues, or a new perspective on mothering, this book is a must read.

According to all accepted criteria, Israel has developed a refined universe of social science research, yet the sociology of war, in a society whose brief history is described by "rounds" of war, is utterly lacking. Baruch Kimmerling's monumental work is an effort to correct this glaring omission. He does so by calling upon the best in survey research along with a deep reexamination of the classical social science literature on conflict and consensus. Israeli society is characterized by a large army of reserves, citizen-soldiers mobilized into military service during an emergency. One such emergency was the 1973 war; another the 1982 war. Kimmerling's approach is to treat such conflicts as temporary but powerful interruptions in many social processes. These episodic events not only lead to changing conceptions of mobilization, but higher risks stemming from potential loss of life and injury, shortages, and conceptions of disaster. This is a work which takes seriously both institutional requirements and personal traumas, and is thus very much in the mainstream of social analyses. Kimmerling and his research assistant Irit Backer have come up with most unusual data to measure stress and strain, occupational background of these citizen-soldiers, relationships between normal work and military tasks, the impact of such conflicts on migration patterns--among other truly unusual ways of getting at the topic of an "interrupted" system. This is a book written with a controlled passion, and no mere data-mon-gering activity. The author understands the high costs which Israelis pay to be part of the "club." He sees interruption as an integral part of a chronic conflict situation. Curiously he sees the special features of the Israeli system, when viewed in tandem with external pressures and conflicts, as enabling Israel to strike a balance which enables it to persevere. This is "a "critical work, but spares the reader fatuous policy recommendations.

The fact is that war comes in many guises and its effects continue to be felt long after peace is proclaimed. This challenges the anthropologists who write of war as participant observers. Participant observation inevitably deals with the here and now, with the highly specific. It is only over the long view that one can begin to see the commonalities that emerge from the different forms of conflict and can begin to generalize. [From the Introduction] More needs to be understood about the ways of war and its effects. What implications does war have for people, their lived-in communities and larger political systems; how do they cope and adjust in war situations and how do they deal with the changed world that they inhabit once peace is declared? Through a series of essays that move from looking at the nature of violence to the peace processes that follow it, this important book provides some answers to these questions. It also analyzes those new dimensions of social interaction, such as the internet, which now provide a bridge between local concerns and global networks and are fundamentally altering the practices of war.

In this powerful and timely book, Ayala H. Emmett examines the political roles of women in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Emmett's insights come from numerous trips to the region that included in-depth interviews with many of the participants. Excerpts from the interviews give voice to the women who played vitally important yet often overlooked roles in the political transformations of the contemporary Middle East. Emmett's observations on women's actions in political venues have global implications, transcending the specific political and social contexts of the region and shedding light on both the strengths of female activism and the resistances of male political institutions. Emmett investigates the successes and failures of women in the Israeli political landscape, particularly the harassment experienced during the leadership of Right and ultra-Right groups before the ascension to office of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Her account of women's activism in Israel provides a rich backdrop for viewing the compelling events that have taken place in the Middle East throughout the 1990s and offer insights into the future of women's political activism, both in the ever-changing Israeli political climate and in the broader world of women in politics. "Brilliant in conception and theory, based on superb fieldwork, and clearly written for both specialist and non-specialist reader." --Maurie Sacks, Montclair State University "A groundbreaking study. . . .Ayala Emmett brings an unusual voice of clarity into the muddled politics of the Middle East. Where most studies ignore or marginalize women's role in the peace process, Emmett highlights women as political actors and shows their capacity to bridge the chasm between two hostile peoples." --Cynthia Saltzman, Rutgers University, Camden Ayala Emmett is Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Rochester.

This is a developmental study of men in mandatory military service based on indepth interviews of young soldiers who had recently completed their service in Israel. The book deals with the central issues of transition to adulthood and the psychological effects of military service in the context of the previous research and theory concerning these subjects.