Education, Socialization, and Development of National Identity: The American Common School and Israel Defense Forces in Transnational Perspective

Abstract

The experiences of the nineteenth-century American common school and the twentieth century Israel Defense Forces as educational agencies provide a rich ground for the sort of comparative analysis undertaken by the burgeoning field of transnational history. While American historians have pointed out that a major purpose of common schooling in America was the socialization of immigrants into American life and culture, and Israelis have commented in similar fashion about education undertaken by the Israel Defense Forces, little attempt has been made to compare and contrast the experiences.. Situated within the framework of contemporary understandings of modern nation-state formation, this essay explores historical similarities and differences in the manner in which the socialization of youth and immigrants into each society was carried out by these educational agencies. Additionally, it examines ways in which each contributed to the formation of a national identity in the early years of their respective state's development.