Incorporation without integration: Palestinian citizens in israel's labour market

The Palestinian citizens of Israel have been concentrating in blue-collar, less well paid, and insecure jobs. This is viewed as a result of two processes: their gradual incorporation into the state/Jewish labour market, and at the same time, the reproduction of an elaborate division of labour within a split labour market. Unlike the bulk of the existing research, which explains the disadvantaged position of these Palestinians by variables relating to the process of stratification, such as education, age, and residential area, it is argued that this subject is better explained by variables relating to the political position of the Palestinian minority in Israel, and the structural changes in the economy and the labour market. This analysis takes into account the dominant role that the state has assumed in managing the economy and regulating the labour market, and the subjugation of the economy to what is ideologically conceived as representing the 'common good' of the Jewish majority. The implications of the existence of a split labour market for the Palestinian minority and the Jewish majority is also discussed.