Daphna Birenbaum-Carmeli – Thinking Family Out of the Box
Daphna Birenbaum-Carmeli is a medical sociologist and professor in the Department of Nursing at the Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences at the University of Haifa. She is known, among many other things, for asking research questions that provide unique insights into the working of contemporary societies. In this podcast episode, Daphna talks with Barbara Prainsack about two of her research projects that illustrate the changing meaning of kinship in Israeli society, from two very different perspectives: One project looks at how family relationships are changing when same-sex parents break up. The other one explores how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the relationships of young Israelis with their partners and children, as well as their attitudes towards family and work.
More information about Carmel Shalev’s book “In Praise of Aging” can be found here.
In Search of Meaning – a Conversation with the Bioethicist Carmel Shalev
Carmel Shalev is an Israeli bioethicist and writer. Her work spans the big themes of life: Having been the first academic researching and writing about surrogacy, she influenced the introduction of surrogacy in Israel. Her most recent book, “In Praise of Ageing”, combines reflections on growing older in a society that has particular “scripts” for ageing women with ancient Buddhist wisdom. In this podcast episode, Carmel Shalev tells the story of what made her a feminist, how her years studying law in Yale shaped her, and what it is like growing older in a radically changing Israeli society.
More information about Carmel Shalev’s book “In Praise of Aging” can be found here.
The Challenges Facing Gender Studies in Israel. A Conversation with Ronit Irshai and Orna Sasson-Levy
Ronit Irshai and Orna Sasson-Levy both work in the department of Gender Studies at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. They both see Israel in crisis and Gender Studies in Israel under attack. In an open discussion they point out the problems they are faced with and their strategies to overcome them. They also point to the special situation of Gender Studies at Bar-Ilan University, a conservative, religious institution.
The Janina-Project: Life and Work of the Polish Logician Janina Hosiasson-Lindenbaum (1899-1942)
This podcast takes you to Warsaw in the first half of the 20th century. Two philosophers, Naomi Osorio-Kupferblum (University of Vienna) and Marta Sznajder (University of Groningen) talk about the fascinating world of modern logic and mathematically oriented, anti-irrationalist philosophy as well as the new possibilities that opened up for women during World War I and in the interwar period in Warsaw. The Polish philosopher Janina Hosiasson-Lindenbaum became internationally acclaimed at an early age for her work in inductive logic. During the 1930s, she continuously published in top Polish and European philosophy journals, and presented her work at international conferences. Nevertheless, as a woman and a Jew she could never get a position at a Polish university and had to teach in a high-school. In September 1939, she was supposed to present her work on confirmation theory at the Unity of Science Congress held at Harvard University. However, the cost of the voyage across the Atlantic was prohibitive for a teacher like her, so she had to stay in Warsaw. While the attendance of this conference saved the lives of a number of her colleagues who had made it there, Janina became a victim of the holocaust. She was shot in 1942.
Family Issues through the Lens of Law – A Conversation with Daphna Hacker
Daphna Hacker, Professor at the Tel Aviv University Law Faculty and Head of the Women and Gender Studies Program at the Faculty of Humanities, explains the growing importance of improved legislation concerning transnational families. Daphna Hacker also demands changes in inheritance laws that would enable the elderly to secure the necessary care they need. Another topic of our conversation is the recent regression in women’s status in Israel, focusing on two main issues: the weakening of motherhood as a rewarding status, and women’s exclusion from the public sphere. .
“I Belong to Vienna” – A Conversation with Anna Goldenberg
Anna Goldenberg, born in 1989 in Vienna, studied psychology at the University of Cambridge and journalism at Columbia University, New York. She worked for the Jewish newspaper The Forward in New York before returning to Vienna where she now works for the weekly Der Falter and the daily Die Presse. Her book “I Belong to Vienna” was published in 2018 by New Vessel Press and in German under the title “Versteckte Jahre. Der Mann, der meinen Großvater rettete”. (Hidden years. The man who saved my Grandfather) by Paul Zsolnay Verlag. In the podcast Anna Goldenberg discusses her family’s fate during the holocaust and after the war as well as her role as an author, journalist and granddaughter.
Jewish Women’s Aid – Fighting Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse of Women and Children
It is very often the home that is the most dangerous place for women and children. During the pandemic domestic violence has increased. As Rabbi Lee Wax, London, points out thatit can be found in all strata of society, in all ethnic or religious groups. Therefore, this phenomenon is also a problem for Jewish society. In her conversation with Rabbi Barbara Borts, Newcastel, Rabbi Lee Wax talks about the work and the aims of “Jewish Women’s Aid”, the first organization in Britain that supports Jewish victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. She explains different forms of domestic violence and why it is important to have a specifically Jewish organization for Jewish victims.
Antisemitism and Gender in Hungary
Andrea Petö, Professor for Gender Studies at the Central European University, Vienna, talks with Anikó Félix, Budapest, about her research on women in far-right movements, antisemitism in Hungary and the relationship between antisemitism and Holocaust memory. Anikó Félix received her PhD in Sociology from Eötvös Lóránd Science University, Budapest, Hungary, in 2019. Her main fields of expertise are contemporary far right movements, subculture and parties, right-wing populism and antisemitism. In her research a major focus are gender aspects.
What’s a family? Women and Kinship in Contemporary Israel
The topic of this podcast has been at the center of the second international Bet Debora Conference of June 2001 in Berlin: The Jewish Family. More than twenty years later we are approaching this topic from a completely new angle. Barbara Prainsack, professor for political sciences at Vienna University, discusses with Yael Hashiloni-Dolev, professor for sociology and anthropology at Ben Gurion University, about the ways genetic technologies change our notions of family and the position of mothers in society.
Connecting Gender Studies and Jewish Studies in the Age of New Extremes
Andrea Petö, Professor of Gender Studies at the Central European University, Vienna, discusses crucial topics that combine gender studies and Jewish studies with Paula de Villa, professor/chair for Sociology and Gender Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, and Veronique Sina, research associate at the Institute for Film, Theater, Media and Cultural Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz. There are two major debates currently happening: on one hand the connection of Jewish Studies to gender and on the other hand the second debate of historians about the Holocaust in Germany and the rise of the anti-equality movements. The discussion will show how these two debates are connected.