Smadar Lavie (; born 5 March 1955) is an Israeli

Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' () has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''eastern'', it may refer to: * Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East and North Africa * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberia ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

, author, and activist. She is professor emerita of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. She specializes in the anthropology of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, emphasizing issues of race, gender and religion. She received her doctorate in anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley (1989).

Academic life

Lavie received her BA in social anthropology from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

in 1980 (majors: sociology and social anthropology; minors: medieval Islamic civilization, musicology). Lavie received her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, in 1989 and was awarded the Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Award from the

Middle East Studies Association Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and enco ...

for her dissertation titled, "The Poetics of Military Occupation: Mzeina Allegories of Bedouin Identity under Israeli and Egyptian Rule" which was later published by the

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, and received the 1990 honorable mention of the Victor Turner Award for Ethnographic Writing. In 1990, Lavie became an assistant professor of anthropology and critical theory at the

, where she was promoted to an associate professorship in 1994. Lavie held visiting professorships at

Diablo Valley College Diablo Valley College (DVC) is a public community college with campuses in Pleasant Hill and San Ramon in Contra Costa County, California. DVC is one of three public community colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District (along with ...

(1984),

's Fall Freshman Program (1985–1989),

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

(1994),

Beit Berl College Beit Berl College is a multi-disciplinary academic college for higher education located in Beit Berl in the Sharon plain, Sharon region of Israel. It is one of the oldest colleges in Israel. The college grants undergraduate degrees (B.Ed and ...

(2001–2007),

Macalester College Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...

(2007-2009)

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

(2009–2010) and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

(2010–2012). Lavie was the recipient of residential fellowships at the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

in Bellagio (1993),

Stanford Humanities Center Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...

(1993-1994) Institute for Advanced Study,

(2010–2011), Cento Incontri Umani Ascona (2011), the

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

(2010–2016), the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley (2013-2014), the Beatrice Bain Research Group, University of California, Berkeley (2012-2016), the Simon and Riva Spatz Visiting Chair in Jewish Studies, Dalhousie University (2018/2019), the Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley (2016-2020), and the Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies,

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

(2017, 2018, 2022).

Recognition

Lavie authored ''The Poetics of Military Occupation'' (UC Press, 1990), receiving the 1990 honorable mention of the Victor Turner Award for Ethnographic Writing, and ''Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture'' (Berghahn Books 2014, University of Nebraska Press 2018) receiving the 2015 honorable mention of the Association of Middle East Women's Studies Book Award Competition. ''Wrapped in the Flag of Israel'' first edition was also one of the four finalists in the 2015

Clifford Geertz Clifford James Geertz (; August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades&n ...

Book Award Competition of the Society for the Anthropology of Religion. Lavie won the American Studies Association's 2009 Gloria Anzaldúa Prize for her article, "Staying Put: Crossing the Palestine-Israel Border with Gloria Anzaldúa", published in ''Anthropology'' and ''Humanism'' (2011). In 2013, she won the "Heart at East" Honor Plaque for lifetime service to Mizraḥi communities in Israel-Palestine. Her 2019 article "Gaza 2014 and Mizrahi Feminism" was awarded certificates as a top downloaded paper for 2018 to 2022, 2020, and 2021 to 2022 by

Wiley Publishing John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and produces books, journals, and encyclop ...

. In 2022, she was elected a senior

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

at the Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies at

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Activism

Lavie is a member of many political, feminist and anti-racist organizations. In 2013, she won the "Heart at East" Honor Plaque for committed excellence and lifetime service to the Mizrahi communities of Israel, given by a coalition of twenty NGOs working for equal distribution of cultural funds in Israel. Lavie was co-founder and a member of CAFIOT (the Berkeley Committee for Academic Freedom in the Israeli Occupied Territories) from 1982 to 1989. Lavie is co-signatory to the 1993 Bellagio Declaration for the protection collective indigenous and exilic cultural heritage as intellectual property. Lavie has served a number of roles a
Ahoti (Sister) for Women in Israel
Israel's feminist of color movement. From January 2003 to January 2005, she served on the board of directors. From 2002 to 2003, she both served as the liaison to th
New Israel Fund
and was a member of the newsletter's editorial collective. From 2003-2004, she was the liaison to th
FFIPP
(Educational Network for Human Rights in Palestine/Israel). Lavie co-founded the Coalition of Women for Mothers and Children and served as co-director of this coalition of many NGOs from 2003 to 2006. Lavie has been a member of the

Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition () is a social justice organization among Mizrahi Jews (Jews from Arab and Muslim lands and the East) in Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, ...

(MDR) since 2002. She served on the Culture Committee from 2002 to 2004, the Committee on Education and the Core Curriculum from 2002 to 2003, and was the MDR Representative to the Coalition of NGOs against Racism from 2005 to 2007. Lavie has been an Advisory Board Member of Israel's Women's Parliament since 2002. Lavie co-founded the Mizrahi-Palestinian Coalition Against Apartheid in Israeli Anthropology (CAAIA) and was a member from 2002 to 2008. Lavie is a member of

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; ) is an American Jewish anti-Zionist and left-wing advocacy organization. It is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign ag ...

Select publications

Books

* **Honorable mention for the Victor Turner Award for Ethnographic Writing. *''Creativity/Anthropology''. With

Kirin Narayan Kirin Narayan (born November 1959) is an Indian-born American anthropologist, folklorist and writer. Early life, education, and career Narayan is the daughter of Narayan Ramji Contractor, a civil engineer from Nashik, and Didi Kinzinger, a Germ ...

and Renato Rosaldo. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993. *''Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity''. With Ted Swedenburg. Durham: Duke University Press, 1996. *''Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture''. New York: Berghahn Books, 2014. **In 2018, the

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...

published a revised paperback edition with an expanded afterword discussing the relationship between Mizrahi feminism and Israel-Gaza wars as part of its Expanding Frontiers: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality series. **''Wrapped in the Flag of Israel'' received the 2015 Honorable Mention of the Association of Middle East Women's Studies Book Award competition. It was also a finalist for the 2015

Book Award competition by the Society for the Anthropology of Religion.

Selected articles

* * * * * * * **Winner of the Gloria Anzaldúa Award, the Women's Committee of the American Studies Association. * * * * *

Selected chapters

* * *

Selected public anthropology articles

* * * 2005 "Israeli Anthropology and American Anthropology". Anthropology Newsletter January Issue. P. 8. * * 2006 "Operations 'Summer Rains' and 'Adequate Pay' — Yet Other Acts in the Mizrahi-Palestinian Tragedy". Co-authored with Reuven Abarjel, co-founder of Israel's Black Panthers. Counter Currents. * 2006 "On the Progress of Affirmative Action and Cultural Rights for

Marginalized Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

Communities in Israel". Co-authored with Rafi Shubeli. Anthropology Newsletter. November. pp. 6–7. * 2007 "Dry Twigs". The Electronic Intifada. 3 August. * 2009 "Sacrificing Gaza to Revive Israel's Labor Party". Counter Currents.19 January. * 2015 "Smadar Lavie, Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture, 1st Edition (New Texts Out Now)". Jadaliyya. 18 February. * 2015 "Revisiting Israeli Anthropology and American Anthropology: Our "Special Relations". Allegra Lab Anthropology Blog. 27 October. * 2020 "Smadar Lavie, Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture, Revised Edition with a New Afterword by the Author". Jadaliyya. 16 January.

Selected video lectures

* 2004 "Cultural Property Rights and the Racial Construction of the Mizrahi as a Trade-Mark: Notes on the Revolving Door of Israel's Academe-Regime". Presented in a conference, "The New IP Order", in a 4-participant panel on "Culture and Copyright". Haifa University. 14 June. * 2015 "Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture".

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. 20 October. * 2018 "Ahoti (=Sistah): Portraits of Mizrahi Feminists #1". Noemie Serfaty short video, San Francisco. 17 December. * 2020 "The Zionist Movement and Mizrahi Women: Right Wing Feminism of Color in the State of Israel". Pandemic Webinar with

Bay Area. 26 July

References

External links

Smadar Lavie
on the University of California website; includes bibliography of publications
Smadar Lavie -- Emeriti faculty members in the Sociocultural Wing of Anthropology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavie, Smadar 1955 births Living people University of California, Davis faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Academic staff of Beit Berl College Israeli women non-fiction writers Israeli women anthropologists Israeli feminists Israeli women's rights activists Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jewish feminists Jewish Israeli anti-racism activists Jewish Israeli non-fiction writers Jewish anthropologists Women anthropologists Cultural anthropologists Social anthropologists Anthropology writers Racism in Israel Mizrahi feminists 20th-century Israeli women writers 21st-century Israeli women writers 20th-century Israeli non-fiction writers 21st-century Israeli non-fiction writers 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews 20th-century Mizrahi Jews 21st-century Mizrahi Jews