The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in Israel
The past few decades have witnessed significant increases in levels of education among women members of conservative religions. Contrary to the expectations of both researchers and policymakers, this trend has not been accompanied by decreases in levels of piety. The purpose of this article is to ex...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1020 |
| _version_ | 1797583319603347456 |
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| author | Tehila Gado Rebecca Kook Ayelet Harel |
| author_facet | Tehila Gado Rebecca Kook Ayelet Harel |
| author_sort | Tehila Gado |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The past few decades have witnessed significant increases in levels of education among women members of conservative religions. Contrary to the expectations of both researchers and policymakers, this trend has not been accompanied by decreases in levels of piety. The purpose of this article is to explore what it means to educated religious women to belong to conservative religious communities that embody values and practices that do not conform to the values of modernity associated with exposure to higher education. On the basis of a series of group interviews with educated Jewish Haredi women in Israel, we examined this very question. We found that the women we interviewed demonstrated a deep pride in their religious identity and an ongoing and strong commitment to their community. At the same time, they regarded membership in their community as a form of social capital enabling them to secure a wide array of benefits, which provided compensation for the demand to conform to conservative practices. We conclude that through a process of exchange (social capital against the price of conforming), the women challenge existing norms while maintaining strong religious identities, taking part in democratic processes, and, together, forging articulated bonds of membership and belonging. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:37:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0dfd81d863604979aea37d1980bad013 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:37:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-0dfd81d863604979aea37d1980bad0132023-11-19T02:51:09ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-08-01148102010.3390/rel14081020The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in IsraelTehila Gado0Rebecca Kook1Ayelet Harel2The Department of Sociology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, IsraelThe Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, IsraelThe Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, IsraelThe past few decades have witnessed significant increases in levels of education among women members of conservative religions. Contrary to the expectations of both researchers and policymakers, this trend has not been accompanied by decreases in levels of piety. The purpose of this article is to explore what it means to educated religious women to belong to conservative religious communities that embody values and practices that do not conform to the values of modernity associated with exposure to higher education. On the basis of a series of group interviews with educated Jewish Haredi women in Israel, we examined this very question. We found that the women we interviewed demonstrated a deep pride in their religious identity and an ongoing and strong commitment to their community. At the same time, they regarded membership in their community as a form of social capital enabling them to secure a wide array of benefits, which provided compensation for the demand to conform to conservative practices. We conclude that through a process of exchange (social capital against the price of conforming), the women challenge existing norms while maintaining strong religious identities, taking part in democratic processes, and, together, forging articulated bonds of membership and belonging.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1020minority womenreligiongenderultra-orthodox womenIsraelagency |
| spellingShingle | Tehila Gado Rebecca Kook Ayelet Harel The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in Israel Religions minority women religion gender ultra-orthodox women Israel agency |
| title | The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in Israel |
| title_full | The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in Israel |
| title_fullStr | The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in Israel |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in Israel |
| title_short | The Politics of Belonging: A Study of Educated Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women in Israel |
| title_sort | politics of belonging a study of educated jewish ultra orthodox haredi women in israel |
| topic | minority women religion gender ultra-orthodox women Israel agency |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1020 |
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