The Dialectic Polarization of Consensus Formation: An Analysis of Civic Studies Media Discourse in Israel

Authors

  • Elie Friedman Ashkelon Academic College
  • Michal Neubauer-Shani Ashkelon Academic College

Keywords:

civics, civic education, political education, polarization, discourse analysis

Abstract

In democracies, civic education aims at fostering a common civic identity that prepares citizens to embrace disagreements about basic values and settle conflicts in legitimate ways, an acute need following social, political, and media polarization. Using the Israeli media debate about civic education as a case study, this study illustrates how, in a deeply polarized society, the debate regarding civic education has become yet another tool for aggravating polarization and “othering” of the opposing side of the debate while bringing this polarization into the classroom. Using dialectic discourse analysis, this study strives to disclose the central discursive resources used by both liberal and conservative “camps” to appropriate central societal values toward their position on civic studies. It illustrates how each camp attempts to present itself as aligning with “neutral” political education by appropriating “nonideological” societal values to advance its approach toward civics.

Author Biographies

Elie Friedman, Ashkelon Academic College

Elie Friedman (academic rank: Senior Lecturer) is Head of the Communication Division at the Department of Multi-Disciplinary Studies, Ashkelon Academic College, an adjunct lecturer at School of Communication, Bar-Ilan University, and a visiting lecturer at University of Maryland. His interests include political discourse in national and international contexts with an emphasis on conflict resolution, media, and public diplomacy. His first book (with Gavriely-Nuri) Israeli Discourse and the West Bank: Dialectics of Normalization and Estrangement was published in 2018 by Routledge. He has published articles in leading discourse and communication journals, including Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism (2020), Journalism Studies (2020), Javnost – the Public (2021), and Journal of Multicultural Discourses (2022).

Michal Neubauer-Shani, Ashkelon Academic College

Michal Neubauer-Shani is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Politics and Governance and the Department of Multi-Disciplinary Studies, Ashkelon Academic College, Israel. She received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on public policy and state-religion Relations. In addition, she is a lecturer in the civics teacher training program.

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Published

2022-11-30

Issue

Vol. 16 (2022)

Section

Articles

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