On the other hand, the geopolitical influence of the American soft-power, which was so strongly imprinted on the Israeli structure, explains the model adopted in Israel, and why the elements that led to its eventual failure were not eliminated earlier on. On one hand, local institutional actors, and especially the influential Budgetary Unit of the Ministry of Finance, played a crucial role. Building on neo-institutional theory, this article incorporates two sets of theories in order to explain the diffusion process of the activation policy. Despite the existence of a rich repertoire of activation programs in a number of different countries, the program ultimately chosen for Israel bears a strong similarity to the American Wisconsin Works program (W-2), upon which it was based. The Israeli program is part of a global trend towards a policy of “activation.” This policy seeks to make citizens active partners in the effort to return them to salaried employment, in particular by conditioning their eligibility for state assistance on such efforts. The initial program was replaced by the Orot Letaasuka program (Employment Lights), but this was terminated in 2010. The process of importing and institutionalizing the program began towards the end of the 1990s, starting slowly before its pace picked up. In August 2005, a welfare to work program (In Hebrew, Me’Halev, meaning “From the Heart”) was launched in Israel. Furthermore, they point to the requisite link between the personal-emotional and the social-political dimensions. The research findings challenge the perception that the 'personal' depoliticizes the 'social'. By combining theory and a group process, the course attempted (1) to effect a thinking- and emotion-based transformation in the recognition of social and personal identities and their meanings, and (2) to work toward social justice in the communities to which the students belonged (such as their workplaces and places of residence). This class consisted mainly of working, mid-career students. This chapter examines the manner in which the three dimensions – personal awareness, social consciousness, and the desire for change – were expressed during an academic course offered by Sapir Academic College's Department of Management and Public Policy to a class that was heterogeneous as regards nationality, ethnicity, and gender. Many theorists have dealt with questions concerning the development of consciousness and the desire to promote equality as a consequence of theoretical and dialogical study.
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