TY - JOUR
T1 - Who will protect our human rights? Cities, states, and ethnicity
AU - Shaham-Maymon, Gil
AU - Miodownik, Dan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Urban Affairs Association.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - The ongoing questions that ethno-nationally divided urban communities face concerning human rights are often exacerbated by large-scale events that challenge everyday local dynamics, such as wars and pandemics. This study, situated within discussions concerning the “localization” of human rights, explores what factors lead city-zens (citizens of the city) to pin expectations of safeguarding human rights on the local authority, focusing on urban identity, ethno-national identity, and the city’s ethno-national heterogeneity. We explore Israel’s homogeneous and mixed (Jewish-Palestinian) cities, wherein city-zens navigate their conflicting identities amidst eruptions of the long-standing conflict, as demonstrated by its latest escalation in October 2023. Drawing on an original survey and in-depth interviews, we find that urban identity is associated with city-zens’ expectations that their city will safeguard human rights, particularly among the (Jewish) majority in mixed cities. We further divide urban identity into legal and social dimensions, elucidating its role in shaping local perspectives on human rights in ethno-nationally conflicted societies.
AB - The ongoing questions that ethno-nationally divided urban communities face concerning human rights are often exacerbated by large-scale events that challenge everyday local dynamics, such as wars and pandemics. This study, situated within discussions concerning the “localization” of human rights, explores what factors lead city-zens (citizens of the city) to pin expectations of safeguarding human rights on the local authority, focusing on urban identity, ethno-national identity, and the city’s ethno-national heterogeneity. We explore Israel’s homogeneous and mixed (Jewish-Palestinian) cities, wherein city-zens navigate their conflicting identities amidst eruptions of the long-standing conflict, as demonstrated by its latest escalation in October 2023. Drawing on an original survey and in-depth interviews, we find that urban identity is associated with city-zens’ expectations that their city will safeguard human rights, particularly among the (Jewish) majority in mixed cities. We further divide urban identity into legal and social dimensions, elucidating its role in shaping local perspectives on human rights in ethno-nationally conflicted societies.
KW - ethno-national identity
KW - Human rights
KW - Israel-Palestine
KW - mixed cities
KW - urban identity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85215393378&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07352166.2024.2447346
DO - 10.1080/07352166.2024.2447346
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AN - SCOPUS:85215393378
SN - 0735-2166
JO - Journal of Urban Affairs
JF - Journal of Urban Affairs
ER -