Ángeles (Angy) Cohen | CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Spanish National Research Council) (original) (raw)
Papers by Ángeles (Angy) Cohen
Religions, 2024
Drawing on life-story interviews and ethnography conducted in Israel from 2009 to 2023, this arti... more Drawing on life-story interviews and ethnography conducted in Israel from 2009 to 2023, this article examines how members of the Spanish-speaking Moroccan–Jewish diaspora in Israel recalled their habits of eating non-kosher food in Morocco. We explore how these memories emerged in response to commonplace discourses that depict Moroccan Jews as a distinctly religious-traditional ethnic group, untouched by European secular influences, and dichotomous with modern secular cultures in Israel. Contrary to this image, members of the community whom we interviewed highlighted a Jewish Moroccan life that was deeply connected to Spanish colonialism and the broader Hispanic and Sephardi worlds. We focus specifically on the concept of selkear, a Haketia (Judeo-Spanish) term meaning to let something go, make an exception, or turn a blind eye. Our analysis of our participants’ memories provides a nuanced understanding of Jewish religiosity in the context of colonialism and of how Mizrahi–Sephardi immigrants in Israel reclaimed their Judaism. Highlighting the practice of eating non-kosher food is thus a strategy used to challenge dominant notions of rigid religious commitment within the Sephardi diaspora and their interpretation in Israel.
Revista de historia de la psicología, 2012
fue publicado en 1874 y constituye un documento de gran relevancia para pensar en las relaciones ... more fue publicado en 1874 y constituye un documento de gran relevancia para pensar en las relaciones entre la Historia, las perspectivas historiográ cas y la constitución histórica de la subjetividad. En este artículo transitaremos por el diálogo que M. Foucault mantiene con este texto en su Nietzsche,
Revista De Historia De La Psicologia, May 31, 2009
Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/ Orie... more Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/ Oriental) poetry in Israel. This article analyzes <em>The Immigrant's Lament</em>, Benarroch's first book of poems in Hebrew. It was published in 1994, after years of not remembering his past in the Moroccan city of Tetouan, where the author grew up until the age of thirteen. His integration into Israeli society had required a transformation of himself and his memories that did not match those he needed to have to become a first-class Israeli. <em>The Immigrant's Lament</em> is part of his process of recovering his memories alongside his political awareness. The book is a project of remembering and a liberation device, part of an awakening. The poet dares to call himself an immigrant and not only an <em>oleh</em>, "one who ascends". In the very title of the book there is a redefinition of himself and his experience as a Moroccan Jew i...
Azimuth, 2021
This essay reflects on three modalities of ‘Sephardi subjectivity’, that is, three ways of consti... more This essay reflects on three modalities of ‘Sephardi subjectivity’, that is, three ways of constituting the Sephardi-Jewish self, as they appear in the work of Jacqueline Kahanoff, Jacques Derrida and Albert Memmi. These three authors are approached as instances of a generation of Sephardi writers who witnessed the collapse of the Levantine world of their ancestors. We discuss their position in between cultures and their responses to this historical ‘in-betweenness’, as well as their experience of language and their sense of belonging against the backdrop of colonialism, cosmopolitanism and decolonization.
Contemporary Jewry, 2021
This paper presents an ethnographic study of autobiographical narratives about Jewish life during... more This paper presents an ethnographic study of autobiographical narratives about Jewish life during the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco (1912–1956). Based on eighteen interviews conducted between 2013 and 2016, this work examines the peculiar process Sephardic Jews underwent as a consequence of the Spanish colonial presence in the north of Morocco. Spanish-Moroccan Jews developed their identity affiliations and allegiances under the influence of different institutions: the Spanish colonial agencies, the Alliance Israélite Universelle, the Jewish Agency, the Jewish community and the Moroccan authorities. These institutions presented different and often contradictory roles for Moroccan Jews. This work shows the tensions and conflicts experienced by the participants when navigating these different cultural and political spheres. The paper examines the participants’ narratives about the ambiguous "re-Hispanicization" of Sephardic Jews during the colonial period. It studies the participants’ memories about their identification with Spain and the adoption of Spanish habits and customs during the Protectorate period, which transformed Jewish life
and redefined the limits between the different ethno-religious groups. This paper shows the impact of the social, historical and political conditions of the Protectorate on the participants’ memories about colonial Morocco.
Cohen, Angy, 2020
This is an exploration of women’s tradition of hospitality, the epistemic and moral contribution ... more This is an exploration of women’s tradition of hospitality, the epistemic and moral contribution of their practices of welcoming the other and their historical experience as providers of care. The essay claims that female hospitality has largely consisted of care for others, which challenges a social model based on individualism and self-sufficiency. The argument is rooted in ethnography and Jewish thought and reclaims the home as an ethical space. This text analyses two disturbing and painful stories from the Tanakh that are both examples of the consequences of extreme or absolute hospitality and violence against women. The famous works of Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Lévinas on hospitality as ethics and hospitality as the feminine are discussed vis-à-vis anthropological and feminist approaches to the connection between the female welcoming of the other and the ethics of care. Finally, the reflections of the members of Beit Midrash Arevot
(Jerusalem) shed light on a traditionist feminism that develops an ethics and practice of hospitality as welcoming otherness.
Lo Sguardo, 2020
Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/Orien... more Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/Oriental) poetry in Israel. This article analyzes The Immigrant’s Lament, Benarroch’s first book of poems in Hebrew. It was published in 1994, after years of not remembering his past in the Moroccan city of Tetouan, where the author grew up until the age of thirteen. His integration into Israeli society had required a transformation of himself and his memories that did not match those he needed to have to become a first-class Israeli. The Immigrant’s Lament is part of his process of recovering his memories alongside his political awareness. The book is a project of remembering and a liberation device, part of an awakening. The poet dares to call himself an immigrant and not only an oleh, “one who ascends”. In the very title of the book there is a redefinition of himself and his experience as a Moroccan Jew in Israel. It is also a challenge to the Zionist promise of ending exile. Benarroch laments the loss of the promise of redemption, the continuation of exile in the Land of Israel, the place of historical redemption for the Jewish people. This article explores the rebellion against oblivion and the search for recognition and legitimacy that accompanied the poet’s recovery of memory and, with it, a political conscience. We will analyze the interaction between identity processes and the politics of recognition.
E l Protectorado español en Marruecos (1912Marruecos ( -1956), a pesar de estar tan próximo en el... more E l Protectorado español en Marruecos (1912Marruecos ( -1956), a pesar de estar tan próximo en el tiempo, es apenas un dato dentro del conocimiento histórico que se espera de un español medio que haya pasado por alguno de los múltiples planes de estudio que hemos tenido. Me parece que esta falta de atención puede deberse a que el mundo que ahí se creó era no sólo imposible sino además inimaginable en España. El Protectorado fue un planeta distinto, aunque pareciera ser un satélite. En aquel planeta se encontraron formas de vida que nada tenían que ver. Formas de vida que se acercaron y alejaron, se juntaron, se revolvieron, se separaron, se quisieron, se despreciaron y se echaron de menos después.
Journal of Jewish Studies
Krankheitskonstruktionen und Krankheitstreiberei, 2013
In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharm... more In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharmaceutical and psychological technologies and repertoires have come to play an increasingly central role in providing explanations and ways of addressing deviant child behavior, mainly but not exclusively through the category of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and its antecedents (Conrad 1976; Rafalovich 2001). At the turn of the century, ADHD became the most common diagnosis among American children. As of 2007, 5.4 million children aged 3–17 were diagnosed with ADHD (9.5 %) in the US, significantly more than in Europe, representing a 22 % increase in four years. Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3 % per year from 1997 to 2006, and an average of 5.5 % per year from 2003 to 2007. Boys (12 %) are more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with ADHD (5 %)
El ensayo llamado Sobre la utilidad y el perjuicio de la historia para la vida o Segunda Consider... more El ensayo llamado Sobre la utilidad y el perjuicio de la historia para la vida o Segunda Consideración Intempestiva, de F. Nietzsche, fue publicado en 1874 y constituye un documento de gran relevancia para pensar en las relaciones entre la Historia, las perspectivas historiográficas y la constitución histórica de la subjetividad. En este artículo transitaremos por el diálogo que M. Foucault mantiene con este texto en su Nietzsche, La Genealogía, la Historia para finalmente traer al ámbito de la Historia de la Psicología un esbozo de lo que podría implicar una perspectiva genealógica para la historiografía interesada en la cuestión de la subjetividad.
Revista de historia …, Jan 1, 2009
Resumen: En este trabajo vamos a presentar la figura de Erwin Rohde y su obra más conocida, Psiqu... more Resumen: En este trabajo vamos a presentar la figura de Erwin Rohde y su obra más conocida, Psique. La idea del alma y la inmortalidad entre los griegos, como ejemplo de una manera de abordar el trabajo historiográfico que trasciende los límites de las divisiones disciplinares. Psique, aparte de un excelente documento sobre la cultura griega arcaica y la época clásica, es un texto donde podemos advertir la preocupación por indagar las prácticas culturales sobre las que se estructuran los universos simbólicos de una cultura.
Estudios de Psicolog&# 237; a, Jan 1, 2011
En 1891 se publica en Heidelberg la obra que hará de Erwin Rohde un autor de referencia para el e... more En 1891 se publica en Heidelberg la obra que hará de Erwin Rohde un autor de referencia para el estudio de la religión griega: Psique. La idea de alma e inmortalidad entre los griegos. Esta obra contiene muchas de las claves necesarias para entender la emergencia del dualismo alma/cuerpo en el seno de la cultura griega. La hipótesis que Rohde tratará de sacar adelante es que la idea de la inmortalidad del alma habría surgido de las experiencias de éxtasis en las prácticas de culto "entusiasta" al dios Dionisos, pasando así de manos del orfismo a la elaboración ya filosófica que recibiría con Platón, el cual la situaría en el centro de la filosofía, preparándola para la recepción que la religión judeo-cristiana haría de ella. Palabras clave: Erwin Rohde, Filología del Espíritu, inmortalidad del alma, orfismo, dualismo.
Book chapters by Ángeles (Angy) Cohen
El valor de cuidar, 2020
El cuidado es una de las formas que puede tomar el encuentro con alguien otro, una de las formas ... more El cuidado es una de las formas que puede tomar el encuentro con alguien otro, una de las formas en que podemos responder a su presencia, a su llamada. los profesionales que dan testimonio de su tarea en este volumen encarnan el sentido más pleno del concepto de vocación como llamada. las profesiones del cuidado son una respuesta ante una llamada del otro y, por lo tanto, responden -literalmente-a una vocación. Emmanuel lévinas decía que el rostro del otro nos interpela de tal modo que debemos responder y esa respuesta, la relación con el otro, ocurre cuando nos hacemos responsables de él. la vocación del cuidado es el modo en que damos respuesta a la llamada del otro. Algunas personas someten su vida a esa vocación, a esa llamada del otro, como veremos en las próximas páginas. una forma habitual de entender el cuidado tiene que ver con la restitución, con la restauración, con una debilidad del otro que somos capaces de contener y compensar. El otro, así presentado, está en un estado de debilidad respecto a nosotros, una debilidad palpable desde la cual no puede amenazarnos. ¿qué ocurre, entonces, cuando estamos frente a otro cuya debilidad y vulnerabilidad no nos
Krankheitskonstruktionen und Krankheitstreiberei, 2013
In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharm... more In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharmaceutical and psychological technologies and repertoires have come to play an increasingly central role in providing explanations and ways of addressing deviant child behavior, mainly but not exclusively through the category of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and its antecedents (Conrad 1976; Rafalovich 2001). At the turn of the century, ADHD became the most common diagnosis among American children. As of 2007, 5.4 million children aged 3–17 were diagnosed with ADHD (9.5 %) in the US, significantly more than in Europe, representing a 22 % increase in four years. Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3 % per year from 1997 to 2006, and an average of 5.5 % per year from 2003 to 2007. Boys (12 %) are more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with ADHD (5 %).
Book Reviews by Ángeles (Angy) Cohen
Religions, 2024
Drawing on life-story interviews and ethnography conducted in Israel from 2009 to 2023, this arti... more Drawing on life-story interviews and ethnography conducted in Israel from 2009 to 2023, this article examines how members of the Spanish-speaking Moroccan–Jewish diaspora in Israel recalled their habits of eating non-kosher food in Morocco. We explore how these memories emerged in response to commonplace discourses that depict Moroccan Jews as a distinctly religious-traditional ethnic group, untouched by European secular influences, and dichotomous with modern secular cultures in Israel. Contrary to this image, members of the community whom we interviewed highlighted a Jewish Moroccan life that was deeply connected to Spanish colonialism and the broader Hispanic and Sephardi worlds. We focus specifically on the concept of selkear, a Haketia (Judeo-Spanish) term meaning to let something go, make an exception, or turn a blind eye. Our analysis of our participants’ memories provides a nuanced understanding of Jewish religiosity in the context of colonialism and of how Mizrahi–Sephardi immigrants in Israel reclaimed their Judaism. Highlighting the practice of eating non-kosher food is thus a strategy used to challenge dominant notions of rigid religious commitment within the Sephardi diaspora and their interpretation in Israel.
Revista de historia de la psicología, 2012
fue publicado en 1874 y constituye un documento de gran relevancia para pensar en las relaciones ... more fue publicado en 1874 y constituye un documento de gran relevancia para pensar en las relaciones entre la Historia, las perspectivas historiográ cas y la constitución histórica de la subjetividad. En este artículo transitaremos por el diálogo que M. Foucault mantiene con este texto en su Nietzsche,
Revista De Historia De La Psicologia, May 31, 2009
Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/ Orie... more Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/ Oriental) poetry in Israel. This article analyzes <em>The Immigrant's Lament</em>, Benarroch's first book of poems in Hebrew. It was published in 1994, after years of not remembering his past in the Moroccan city of Tetouan, where the author grew up until the age of thirteen. His integration into Israeli society had required a transformation of himself and his memories that did not match those he needed to have to become a first-class Israeli. <em>The Immigrant's Lament</em> is part of his process of recovering his memories alongside his political awareness. The book is a project of remembering and a liberation device, part of an awakening. The poet dares to call himself an immigrant and not only an <em>oleh</em>, "one who ascends". In the very title of the book there is a redefinition of himself and his experience as a Moroccan Jew i...
Azimuth, 2021
This essay reflects on three modalities of ‘Sephardi subjectivity’, that is, three ways of consti... more This essay reflects on three modalities of ‘Sephardi subjectivity’, that is, three ways of constituting the Sephardi-Jewish self, as they appear in the work of Jacqueline Kahanoff, Jacques Derrida and Albert Memmi. These three authors are approached as instances of a generation of Sephardi writers who witnessed the collapse of the Levantine world of their ancestors. We discuss their position in between cultures and their responses to this historical ‘in-betweenness’, as well as their experience of language and their sense of belonging against the backdrop of colonialism, cosmopolitanism and decolonization.
Contemporary Jewry, 2021
This paper presents an ethnographic study of autobiographical narratives about Jewish life during... more This paper presents an ethnographic study of autobiographical narratives about Jewish life during the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco (1912–1956). Based on eighteen interviews conducted between 2013 and 2016, this work examines the peculiar process Sephardic Jews underwent as a consequence of the Spanish colonial presence in the north of Morocco. Spanish-Moroccan Jews developed their identity affiliations and allegiances under the influence of different institutions: the Spanish colonial agencies, the Alliance Israélite Universelle, the Jewish Agency, the Jewish community and the Moroccan authorities. These institutions presented different and often contradictory roles for Moroccan Jews. This work shows the tensions and conflicts experienced by the participants when navigating these different cultural and political spheres. The paper examines the participants’ narratives about the ambiguous "re-Hispanicization" of Sephardic Jews during the colonial period. It studies the participants’ memories about their identification with Spain and the adoption of Spanish habits and customs during the Protectorate period, which transformed Jewish life
and redefined the limits between the different ethno-religious groups. This paper shows the impact of the social, historical and political conditions of the Protectorate on the participants’ memories about colonial Morocco.
Cohen, Angy, 2020
This is an exploration of women’s tradition of hospitality, the epistemic and moral contribution ... more This is an exploration of women’s tradition of hospitality, the epistemic and moral contribution of their practices of welcoming the other and their historical experience as providers of care. The essay claims that female hospitality has largely consisted of care for others, which challenges a social model based on individualism and self-sufficiency. The argument is rooted in ethnography and Jewish thought and reclaims the home as an ethical space. This text analyses two disturbing and painful stories from the Tanakh that are both examples of the consequences of extreme or absolute hospitality and violence against women. The famous works of Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Lévinas on hospitality as ethics and hospitality as the feminine are discussed vis-à-vis anthropological and feminist approaches to the connection between the female welcoming of the other and the ethics of care. Finally, the reflections of the members of Beit Midrash Arevot
(Jerusalem) shed light on a traditionist feminism that develops an ethics and practice of hospitality as welcoming otherness.
Lo Sguardo, 2020
Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/Orien... more Mois Benarroch is a Moroccan-Israeli poet who has been very influential on Mizrahi (Eastern/Oriental) poetry in Israel. This article analyzes The Immigrant’s Lament, Benarroch’s first book of poems in Hebrew. It was published in 1994, after years of not remembering his past in the Moroccan city of Tetouan, where the author grew up until the age of thirteen. His integration into Israeli society had required a transformation of himself and his memories that did not match those he needed to have to become a first-class Israeli. The Immigrant’s Lament is part of his process of recovering his memories alongside his political awareness. The book is a project of remembering and a liberation device, part of an awakening. The poet dares to call himself an immigrant and not only an oleh, “one who ascends”. In the very title of the book there is a redefinition of himself and his experience as a Moroccan Jew in Israel. It is also a challenge to the Zionist promise of ending exile. Benarroch laments the loss of the promise of redemption, the continuation of exile in the Land of Israel, the place of historical redemption for the Jewish people. This article explores the rebellion against oblivion and the search for recognition and legitimacy that accompanied the poet’s recovery of memory and, with it, a political conscience. We will analyze the interaction between identity processes and the politics of recognition.
E l Protectorado español en Marruecos (1912Marruecos ( -1956), a pesar de estar tan próximo en el... more E l Protectorado español en Marruecos (1912Marruecos ( -1956), a pesar de estar tan próximo en el tiempo, es apenas un dato dentro del conocimiento histórico que se espera de un español medio que haya pasado por alguno de los múltiples planes de estudio que hemos tenido. Me parece que esta falta de atención puede deberse a que el mundo que ahí se creó era no sólo imposible sino además inimaginable en España. El Protectorado fue un planeta distinto, aunque pareciera ser un satélite. En aquel planeta se encontraron formas de vida que nada tenían que ver. Formas de vida que se acercaron y alejaron, se juntaron, se revolvieron, se separaron, se quisieron, se despreciaron y se echaron de menos después.
Journal of Jewish Studies
Krankheitskonstruktionen und Krankheitstreiberei, 2013
In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharm... more In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharmaceutical and psychological technologies and repertoires have come to play an increasingly central role in providing explanations and ways of addressing deviant child behavior, mainly but not exclusively through the category of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and its antecedents (Conrad 1976; Rafalovich 2001). At the turn of the century, ADHD became the most common diagnosis among American children. As of 2007, 5.4 million children aged 3–17 were diagnosed with ADHD (9.5 %) in the US, significantly more than in Europe, representing a 22 % increase in four years. Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3 % per year from 1997 to 2006, and an average of 5.5 % per year from 2003 to 2007. Boys (12 %) are more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with ADHD (5 %)
El ensayo llamado Sobre la utilidad y el perjuicio de la historia para la vida o Segunda Consider... more El ensayo llamado Sobre la utilidad y el perjuicio de la historia para la vida o Segunda Consideración Intempestiva, de F. Nietzsche, fue publicado en 1874 y constituye un documento de gran relevancia para pensar en las relaciones entre la Historia, las perspectivas historiográficas y la constitución histórica de la subjetividad. En este artículo transitaremos por el diálogo que M. Foucault mantiene con este texto en su Nietzsche, La Genealogía, la Historia para finalmente traer al ámbito de la Historia de la Psicología un esbozo de lo que podría implicar una perspectiva genealógica para la historiografía interesada en la cuestión de la subjetividad.
Revista de historia …, Jan 1, 2009
Resumen: En este trabajo vamos a presentar la figura de Erwin Rohde y su obra más conocida, Psiqu... more Resumen: En este trabajo vamos a presentar la figura de Erwin Rohde y su obra más conocida, Psique. La idea del alma y la inmortalidad entre los griegos, como ejemplo de una manera de abordar el trabajo historiográfico que trasciende los límites de las divisiones disciplinares. Psique, aparte de un excelente documento sobre la cultura griega arcaica y la época clásica, es un texto donde podemos advertir la preocupación por indagar las prácticas culturales sobre las que se estructuran los universos simbólicos de una cultura.
Estudios de Psicolog&# 237; a, Jan 1, 2011
En 1891 se publica en Heidelberg la obra que hará de Erwin Rohde un autor de referencia para el e... more En 1891 se publica en Heidelberg la obra que hará de Erwin Rohde un autor de referencia para el estudio de la religión griega: Psique. La idea de alma e inmortalidad entre los griegos. Esta obra contiene muchas de las claves necesarias para entender la emergencia del dualismo alma/cuerpo en el seno de la cultura griega. La hipótesis que Rohde tratará de sacar adelante es que la idea de la inmortalidad del alma habría surgido de las experiencias de éxtasis en las prácticas de culto "entusiasta" al dios Dionisos, pasando así de manos del orfismo a la elaboración ya filosófica que recibiría con Platón, el cual la situaría en el centro de la filosofía, preparándola para la recepción que la religión judeo-cristiana haría de ella. Palabras clave: Erwin Rohde, Filología del Espíritu, inmortalidad del alma, orfismo, dualismo.
El valor de cuidar, 2020
El cuidado es una de las formas que puede tomar el encuentro con alguien otro, una de las formas ... more El cuidado es una de las formas que puede tomar el encuentro con alguien otro, una de las formas en que podemos responder a su presencia, a su llamada. los profesionales que dan testimonio de su tarea en este volumen encarnan el sentido más pleno del concepto de vocación como llamada. las profesiones del cuidado son una respuesta ante una llamada del otro y, por lo tanto, responden -literalmente-a una vocación. Emmanuel lévinas decía que el rostro del otro nos interpela de tal modo que debemos responder y esa respuesta, la relación con el otro, ocurre cuando nos hacemos responsables de él. la vocación del cuidado es el modo en que damos respuesta a la llamada del otro. Algunas personas someten su vida a esa vocación, a esa llamada del otro, como veremos en las próximas páginas. una forma habitual de entender el cuidado tiene que ver con la restitución, con la restauración, con una debilidad del otro que somos capaces de contener y compensar. El otro, así presentado, está en un estado de debilidad respecto a nosotros, una debilidad palpable desde la cual no puede amenazarnos. ¿qué ocurre, entonces, cuando estamos frente a otro cuya debilidad y vulnerabilidad no nos
Krankheitskonstruktionen und Krankheitstreiberei, 2013
In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharm... more In the course of the twentieth century, and especially for the last three decades, medical, pharmaceutical and psychological technologies and repertoires have come to play an increasingly central role in providing explanations and ways of addressing deviant child behavior, mainly but not exclusively through the category of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and its antecedents (Conrad 1976; Rafalovich 2001). At the turn of the century, ADHD became the most common diagnosis among American children. As of 2007, 5.4 million children aged 3–17 were diagnosed with ADHD (9.5 %) in the US, significantly more than in Europe, representing a 22 % increase in four years. Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3 % per year from 1997 to 2006, and an average of 5.5 % per year from 2003 to 2007. Boys (12 %) are more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with ADHD (5 %).
ABSTRACT This doctoral thesis explores the stories and reflections of two groups of Spanish-Moroc... more ABSTRACT
This doctoral thesis explores the stories and reflections of two groups of Spanish-Moroccan Jews through interviews conducted as conversations about their lives in two countries: Israel and Argentina. Specifically, I have examined the relation between the memories they reconstruct and the ideas about themselves they develop during the interview. I have called this relation “putting forward an identity.” I have approached the material gathered via the interviews from a multidisciplinary perspective that combines cultural psychology, historical anthropology, sociology and Jewish studies. I have brought together the contributions of these different fields within a theoretical framework that I have then used to analyze the material on three distinct levels: (1) the socio-historical conditions my interviewees lived in, (2) how they present their lives during the interview and (3) how they interpret the meaning and purpose of the interview.
The overall objective of this thesis is to understand the relation between the immigration experience of Spanish-Moroccan Jews in Israel and Argentina, as presented in the interview, and the ideas about themselves, i.e., the identities they put forward during our conversation. Furthermore, I also examine the link between this putting forward an identity and the experiences they remember within the context of the interview. To understand these relations I have examined the position of the Jew in history’s various projects to create a Spanish national identity, the socio-political structure of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, the immigration policies of Israel and Argentina with which the interviewees were faced, and the social categorization systems of both countries. I have also designed a theoretical framework I use to analyze the meaning-making operations through which the interviewees told their life stories. The core idea of this theoretical framework is that identity is exercised over time through acts of identification, which have three basic functions: to establish bonds with others, to specify and distinguish oneself from others, and to establish bonds with the common history shared by the reference group.
The overall objective is pursued, first and foremost, by analyzing the reconstruction of their process of leaving Morocco and arriving in Israel and Argentina. I analyze the threats to identity with which the interviewees were faced and how they resisted or responded to them. I then examine how they remember their childhood and youth in Morocco, how they describe their relations with the Spaniards and Muslim Moroccans and how these relations redefined Jewish life during and after the Spanish protectorate in the area. Thereupon I analyze how they remember their return to Morocco based on the level of impact their immigration experience had on their relation with their country of origin. I relate the memory of the return journey with the development of ideas of home and homeland, in order to understand the need to belong in light of their immigration experience. Lastly, I investigate Haketia as the key element to guarantee the continuity of a way of life. Haketia constitutes an identity-building mechanism (1) that made all Spanish-Moroccan Jews share a same perspective or way of naming things, (2) that allowed them to distinguish themselves from other ways of being Jewish, and (3) that sets the limits between their private and public spaces.
The results of the analyses show two opposing immigration experiences in Israel and in Argentina. The general trend in Israel was a break from or discontinuation of their Moroccan origin, which when mentioned was articulated by putting special emphasis on their Sephardic origin and Spanish culture as signs that distinguish them with regard to the rest of Jewish groups from Arab and Muslim countries. Moroccan origins in this context appear as the cause of a generally traumatic immigration experience marked by structural discrimination on behalf of the dominantly Ashkenazi-European national identity project, of which they defended themselves in a variety of ways. In Argentina, the general trend was the establishment of a continued identity as Moroccans through community institutions, which, however, didn’t prevent the progressive disaffiliation from religion within the Jewish-Moroccan community. Moroccan origins, held in high social esteem in Argentina, became a sort of heritage they strived to maintain and transmit to subsequent generations.