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Ilan Peleg, Charles A. Dana Professor of Social Science, recently published a new book, Democratizing the Hegemonic State: Political Transformation in the Age of Identity, with the prestigious Cambridge University Press.
The book is grounded in deep, value-based conviction. He says, “I believe that one of the very major human rights violations in the world today — unfortunately often ignored — is the abuse of minorities at the hand of majorities. My book puts a microscope on this phenomenon by developing a new theory on majority-minority relations, and by studying 14 cases in some detail.”
Peleg has been working on the book, on and off, for about five years. Much of the first draft of the work was written during Peleg’s sabbatical during the 2002-2003 school year. During this time, he was appointed a visiting scholar in Oxford University’s most international components, St. Antony’s College. Comprised of only 10 percent British students, many non-British faculty members, and all graduate students, Peleg was able to complete research and work on his book.
Several Lafayette students aided Peleg by helping with research for the book as a part of the EXCEL program. Students who assisted with research by collecting data and sources are Chantal Pasquarello ’02, Metin Aslantas ’03, Noah Goldstein ’04, and Dustin Antonello ’07.
“This book provides a new, comprehensive analytical framework for the examination of majority-minority relations in deeply divided societies. Hegemonic states in which one ethnic group completely dominates all others will continue to face enormous pressures to transform because they are out of step with the new, emerging, global governing code that emphasizes democracy and equal rights,” says Peleg. “Refusal to change would lead such states to lose international legitimacy and face increasing civil strife, instability, and violence.”
The book has received numerous enthusiastic reviews from world-renowned scholars:
“Peleg has written a path breaking work that uses impeccable scholarship and great theoretical insight to bring exceptional clarity to a necessarily controversial area of research. The book opens up new territory analytically and empirically; it broadens the often-sterile debate over whether regimes are democratic or non-democratic by developing new concepts that transcend the old terminology and by avoiding the old trap of treating ‘democracy’ as an ‘either-or’ proposition. This leads to an important conclusion that is well-supported both inductively and deductively: that in deeply-divided societies the achievement of stable democracy requires recognition of group rights as well as individual rights.” – Alan Dowty, University of Notre Dame.
“Professor Ilan Peleg convincingly argues about the need of political accommodation in deeply divided societies, if democracy, equality, human rights and self-government are to advance in a new global governing code. To avoid disruptive conflict not only individual but also group rights should be constitutionally recognized, particularly in those hegemonic states where ethnic subordination persists. Peleg’s incisive analyses and powerful insights are empirically grounded in a thorough examination of fourteen cases around the world. This book makes a compulsory reading for social scientists concerned with identity politics and democratization within and beyond the boundaries of contemporary polities.” – Luis Moreno, Spanish National Research Council, Madrid
Professor Joel Migdal of the University of Washington called Peleg’s book “outstanding” and Professor William Safran of the University of Colorado found it to be “superb.”
Editor-in-Chief of Israel Studies Forum since 2000, Peleg is the author of Begin’s Foreign Policy, 1977–1983: Israel’s Turn to the Right (1987) and Human Rights in the West Bank and Gaza: Legacy and Politics (1995), as well as many other scholarly books and articles. His recent studies have appeared in journals such as the Middle East Journal and Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. His 1995 book received the Choice Award for Excellence in Scholarship.
Peleg has received recognition from Lafayette on numerous occasions, including the Jones Award for superior teaching and scholarly excellence, the Van Artsdalen Prize for outstanding scholarly achievement, and the 2001 Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award. He has served as chair of the international affairs program for nine years and head of the government & law department for 12 years.
He belongs to the American Political Science Association; Association for Israel Studies, of which he was president from 1995-97; and International Studies Association.
Peleg is a frequent speaker on political and international issues. He has shared his expertise on CNN, Voice of America, National Public Radio, and other broadcasts.
Over the last 35 years, he has delivered hundreds of lectures on international relations, foreign policy, Middle East politics, and other issues (many of them to Lafayette alumni).
Peleg’s new book is available from Cambridge University Press or from Amazon.com in either paperback or hardback edition.