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Becoming Activists: Jewish–Palestinian Encounters and the Mechanisms of Social Change Engagement
Author(s) -
Ross Karen
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/pech.12330
Subject(s) - scholarship , peacebuilding , context (archaeology) , salient , social change , paradigm shift , sociology , political science , social engagement , public engagement , social psychology , public relations , psychology , social science , political economy , epistemology , law , paleontology , philosophy , biology
Studies of youth‐focused encounter initiatives have long focused on the potential of such endeavors to shift the attitudes of participants. In recent years, scholarship has begun t'o address whether encounters can shift behaviors, as well—particularly in terms of motivating continued engagement in peacebuilding and social change initiatives. Yet studies have not addressed the question of how this shift occurs, that is, what mechanisms lead from encounter participation to continued social change engagement. This article draws on long‐standing research with a veteran Israeli encounter organization, Sadaka Reut, to explore what is significant in making the participation–continued engagement link. Its analysis points to personalized learning and Sadaka Reut's binational framework as particularly salient, but also addresses the inherent tensions in an approach aiming to foster critical awareness among youth who are members of both the dominant and oppressed ethnonational groups in a long‐standing conflict context.