Israeli Sociologist Uri Ram Awarded NSSR Distinguished Alumni Prize
On May 23rd, Uri Ram will be awarded The New School for Social Research’s Distinguished Alumni Prize, honoring his contribution to sociology and civil discourse. Ram, who studied under Andrew Arato, currently serves as chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Israel’s renowned Ben-Gurion University.
Ram is credited with helping to create a sea-change in Israeli sociology, moving the field away from traditional, mainstream sociology to critical sociology by drawing on contemporary theorists like JâÂșrgen Habermas to forge a post-Zionist, mode of social thought. In Ram’s words, post-Zionism posits that “a Jewish and democratic state can no longer exist, because it is an internal contradiction that cannot be resolved, (Ha’aretz, 2004).
Ram has authored or edited several books, including Israeli Nationalism: Social Conflicts and the Politics of Knowledge (2011), The Globalization of Israel: McWorld in Tel Aviv, Jihad in Jerusalem (2007), and The Power of Property: Israeli Society in the Global Era (2004). In addition, Ram sits on the editorial advisory board of journals including Constellations: A Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory and The International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society.