Ethnic Frontiers and Peripheries

Introduction

"The idea for editing this book originated during an international conference titled "Regional Development: The Challenge of the Frontier," held in December 1993 at the Dead Sea and which was organized by the Negev Center for Regional Development at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In this conference we noticed that little has been said about the impact of Israel's complex mosaic of ethnic groups on the shaping of the country's social and spatial frontiers. We have therefore endeavored to bring together a number of perspectives on the evolution of ethnic frontiers in Israel and the role they play in shaping the cultural landscape of this country. Yet we later realized that "frontier" is too limited a term, and that it may through various processes have turned into a mosaic of spatial, social, economic, and political peripheries. More specifically we attempted to present the process of frontier development as perceived by Israel's ethnic and national minorities. We therefore invited contributions from various other Israeli experts on these issues: geographers, sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists, which have now become the main body of chapters in this book. We trust that they are representative of the main dimensions of the subject."