The Military as a Split Labor Market: The Case of Women and Religious Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces

Citation:

Levy, Yagil. 2013. “The Military as a Split Labor Market: The Case of Women and Religious Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 26 (4): 393–414. doi:10.1007/s10767-013-9146-7.

Author: Yagil Levy

Abstract:

A conflict between religious male soldiers and secular female soldiers has emerged since the 2000s within the Israel Defense Forces. This clash has gradually taken the form of religious rhetoric, articulated by rabbis and other religious activists, that has moved from refraining from publicly questioning the fitness of women as combatants to discourse that gradually delegitimized women’s service. Based on the theoretical theme of the split labor market, I will argue that there is a link between the extent to which the growing introduction of women into field units threatens to devalue the religious youth’s symbolic rewards and the escalation in anti-feminist rhetoric, whose ultimate goal is to exclude women from the military.

Keywords: diversity management, gender exclusion, military service, split labor market

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Male Combatants, Women, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Religion Regions: Africa, MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Israel

Year: 2013