Category Books

Constructing Boundaries: Jewish and Arab Workers in Mandatory Palestine »

Authors: Deborah S. Bernstein
ISBN-13: 9780791445396, ISBN-10: 0791445399
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Date Published: March 2000
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Deborah S. Bernstein

Book Synopsis

Bernstein (U. of Haifa) examines the competition and interaction between Jewish and Arab workers, and the impact of both on the labor market of the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1920s and 1930s. Combining a labor market study based on the Split Labor Market Theory and a case study of the labor market of Haifa, the center of economic development during the period, she demonstrates the impact of the pervasive national conflict on the relations between the workers of the two nationalities and between their labor movements. She analyzes the attempts of Jewish workers to construct boundaries between themselves and Arab workers, but also highlights cases of cooperation between the two groups and of joint class struggle. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

	Tables	xi
	Illustrations	xiii
	Preface	xv
	Introduction	1
	Current Approaches and New Directions	3
	The Split Labor Market Theory and Its Historical Grounding	10
Part I	The Split Develops
Chapter 1	The Split Labor Market of Mandatory Palestine: Actors, Sectors, and Strategies	19
	Demographic and Social Trends	19
	Jewish and Arab Labor	22
	Jewish Labor	23
	Arab Labor	25
	The Differential Value of Jewish and Arab Labor	29
	The Economic Sectors of Palestine	33
	Interrelations	34
	From Sectors Back to Actors	39
	Alternative Strategies	42
Chapter 2	Haifa--Growing and Growing Apart	48
	Early Tremors of Growth	48
	Expanding Communities and New Neighborhoods	53
	Demographic Growth--Absolute and Relative Change	54
	Spatial Growth--the Formation of New Neighborhoods	55
	Haifa--the Political Context	61
	Spheres of Cooperation and the Pull of Segregation	63
	Social Relations	64
	Municipal Relations	65
	Economic Relations	67
	Arab and Jewish Labor	70
	Arab Labor	70
	Jewish Labor	74
	Wages and Differentials	76
	To Conclude	80
Part II	In the Labor Market
Chapter 3	Construction--Competing at the Work Site	83
	Construction--Fluctuation and Scope	85
	Dilemmas of Organization	88
	Wages and Competition	92
	The Borowski Building	99
	To Conclude	107
Chapter 4	Manufacturing Industry--Almost Separate	109
	Trends in Manufacturing in Palestine	111
	Jewish Industry	111
	Arab Industry	113
	Mutual Impact	114
	Haifa--the Center of Heavy Industry	116
	General Trends	116
	Shemen and Nesher--Nahum Wilbush and Michael Pollak	118
	The Tobacco and Cigarette Industry--Mabruk and Hajj Tahir Qaraman	124
	When Working Together	132
	The Nur Match Factory	133
	The Nesher Quarry	134
	Mosaica Tile Factory	136
	To Conclude	138
Chapter 5	The Haifa Port--Entering the Gateway	140
	The Haifa Port and the Issue of Jewish Labor	141
	The Labor Force of the Haifa Port--Major Trends	147
	Exporting the Citrus Crates	149
	In the Customs Transit Shed	154
	Working Together, Acting Together?	161
	To Conclude	164
Chapter 6	The Palestine Railways: "Here We Are All Natives ..." or the Limits of Cooperation	166
	Trends in the Labor Force of the Palestine Railway	170
	The Palestine Railway and Its Internal Organization	174
	Wage and Conditions of Service	180
	Joint Action and Joint Organization	186
	Together Within a Histadrut-Oriented Organization, 1919-1927	187
	The Joint Committee, 1928-1936	193
	Two Organizations and Three Strikes, 1939-1947	197
	To Conclude	204
	Conclusion	206
	Glossary	217
	Abbreviations	219
	Notes	221
	Bibliography	255
	Subject Index	267
	Name Index	275