The non-western modernization perspective: The case of Israel

'Non-Western modernity perspective' offers an alternative approach to understand modernity of non-Western societies, challenging the Eurocentric 'convergence thesis' which argues that modernization trajectory of societies is inscribed deterministically in historical trajectory of Western modernity and which is rooted at the heart of classical modernization theory (CMT) and the globalization discourse. The purpose of this study is to analyze a common belief that Israel is the only western country in the Middle East, and that is an outpost of western civilization from the perspective of modernization studies which examine changes taking place during the modernization process in a society. Starting with the pre-state period up to today, the study assesses Israeli case within three trajectories: economic, political (democratization) social (secularization) from a non-Western modernization perspective taking inspirations from multiple modernization paradigm (MMP) and the uneven and combined development (U&CD). After all, it was concluded that Israel is not a Western country, constituting a divergent modernization trajectory from that of the West within its own historical context, and that the idea of universal modernity is a myth as number of cases unveil a need for more comprehensive and non-determinist approaches. Key words: non-Western modernization, Israel, CMT, MMP, U&CD, economic development, democratization, secularization