America in Jerusalem: Globalization, National Identity and Israeli Advertising (2009)

The penetration of global ideas, and in primarily Americanization, became a threat to the national identity of Israel.  In this book, Professors First and Avraham analyze how central components of the nation-state – the language, the flag, political leaders, borders, landscapes and sights – are reflected in advertising.  They attempt to show how social values metamorphose, shedding their Israeliness and taking on an American veneer.  Using Israel as an example may provide a test case for the Americanization process in other societies at the turn of the millennium.

Professor Anat First served as Dean of School of Communication, Netanya Academic College, Israel, between 2004-2010.   Currently, she is a visiting Scholar at Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies, University of Maryland at College Park.  Her main fields of research include: mediated representations of minority groups, particularly women and Arabs; multi-culturalism as reflected in various genres on prime-time television; Israeli culture in general and globalization/Americanization and negotiating national identity.  She has published extensively on these subjects.