Gad Barzilai (; 11 January 1958 – 10 April 2023) was an Israeli professor of law, political science and international studies, famous for his work on the politics of law, comparative law and politics, human rights, and communities. Barzilai published 18 books and 173 articles in major academic refereed journals and publishing houses. He had been a full professor of law, societies and justice, and international studies at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

Faculty of Law. Gad Barzilai had served as the dean of the Faculty of Law at University of Haifa (2012–2017) and was the vice provost of University of Haifa from 2016 until 2019. Barzilai was a professor of political science and law at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

where he co-founded and served (1996–2004) as co-director of the Law, Society and Politics Graduate Program.

Biography

Barzilai was born on 11 January 1958 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

to parents who had survived the Holocaust. He studied History, Judaism, and Political Science at Bar-Ilan University, Law at

, and in 1987 he received his PhD from the Hebrew University in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, which awarded him several prestigious prizes as well as a Fulbright grant. After completing his PhD and LLB Dhe studied quantitative research methods at

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, Ann Arbor, and completed a post doctorate at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Later, he continued to teach at Yale University before deciding to return to Israel. Barzilai served as a professor at Tel Aviv University in the political science department and the law school. Barzilai was the first founding director (1999–2002) of the newly-established international Dan David Prize, which is among the three large-prize foundations in the world, bestowing international prizes and scholarships for academic and scientific international excellence. In 2004, he moved to the

where he had been a professor in the Law, Societies, and Justice Program, Comparative Law and Society Studies Center, and in the Jackson School of International Studies. In 2012 he was elected and served as the dean of the Faculty of Law at University of Haifa. Barzilai was the co-founder and co-chair of the Israeli Association of Law and Society. He was a board member of the Law and Society Association (class of 2006), '' American Journal of Political Science'' (1998–2003), Association of Israel Studies (1993–1996, 2007–2023), Israel Studies Forum (2004–2023), and the ''Journal of Comparative Studies'' (2006–2023). He was active in international, Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian human rights organizations and has advised senior politicians and NGOs on issues of law and politics. Barzilai was elected in 2011 as the president of the Association for Israel Studies and served until 2013. Gad Barzilai is best known for his critical analysis of law as a dimension in political power, which should be understood through using combined methodologies of socio-political-legal studies. His work emphasizes the importance of legal pluralism, political elite, critical communitarianism,

cultural relativism Cultural relativism is the view that concepts and moral values must be understood in their own cultural context and not judged according to the standards of a different culture. It asserts the equal validity of all points of view and the relati ...

, and political power in local, state and global sites. Barzilai had published numerous books and articles on these issues. Barzilai died on 10 April 2023, at age 65.

Selected Books

* Gad Barzilai
1996, Wars, Internal Conflicts and Political Order: A Jewish Democracy in the Middle East, Albany: State University of New York Press
* Gad Barzilai and David Nachmias, 1998, Governmental Lawyering in the Political Sphere: Advocating the Leviathan, Israel Studies 3 (2): 30-46 * Gad Barzilai
2003, Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
* Gad Barzilai

* Gad Barzilai
2008 Beyond Relativism: Where is Political Power in Legal Pluralism
'' Theoretical Inquiries in Law'' 9 (2) * Gad Barzilai
2010 The Attorney General and the State Prosecutor: Is Institutional Separation Warranted?, Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute

Selected Articles

Law is Politics

The Case of Azmi Bishara: Political Immunity and Freedom in Israel

Fantasies of Liberalism and Liberal Jurisprudence: State Law, Politics, and the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian Community

Courts as Hegemonic Institutions: The Israeli Supreme Court in a Comparative Perspective

War, Democracy, and Internal Conflict: Israel in a Comparative Perspective

Israel and Future Borders: A Multidimensional Approach to the Assessment of a Dynamic Process

Social Protest and the Absence of Legalistic Discourse: In the Quest for New Language of Protest

The Ambivalence of Litigation: A Criticism of Power

Cultured Technology: Internet and Religious Fundamentalism

Culture of Patriarchy in Law: Violence from Antiquity to Modernity

The Redemptive Principle of Particularistic Obligations: A Legal Political Inquiry

National Security in Courts and Law: A Theoretical and Comparative Analysis

References

External links

Professor Gad Barzilai's official home page

Gad Barzilai website at University of Haifa

The Minerva Center

Gad Barzilai's personal home page at University of Washington

Gad Barzilai's on twitter

Gad Barzilai on RSS feed
* Prof. Gad Barzilai was named in the WorldWideLearn.com list of th

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barzilai, Gad 1958 births 2023 deaths Critical theorists Israeli political scientists Israeli political philosophers Social philosophers Israeli lawyers Bar-Ilan University alumni Academic staff of the University of Haifa University of Washington faculty University of Michigan fellows Tel Aviv University alumni Lawyers from Tel Aviv Academics from Tel Aviv