liron shani

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty Member

Brandeis University, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and Department of Anthropology, Post-Doc

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Anthropology and STS ( Program in Science, Technology, and Society), Post-Doc

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Anthropology of the relationship between human and non-human in the Arava Valley and the ways in which power relations, nationalism and knowledge, affect and affected these relationships
Address: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

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Papers by liron shani

Becoming amphibious: scientists’ identities and affective relations in the swamp of computational biology

by liron shani and Talia Fried

Science as Culture, 2025

Computing and data science have permeated diverse fields of knowledge in recent decades. In biolo... more Computing and data science have permeated diverse fields of knowledge in recent decades. In biology the change has been especially noticeable, as very large data sets are revising how science is done. How do interdisciplinary scientists understand and manage the interweaving of computation and biology? What interpretations do they draw about changes to their professional identities and positions, and how do they negotiate these identities and positions in practice? Uncertain identity is a persistent professional struggle that scientists negotiate in a complex professional, institutional, and epistemic landscape. Disciplinary identities are becoming more hybrid, and affective and relational practices are becoming more central. A common career strategy for computational biologists is to develop a distinct ecological ‘niche’ that is valuable to others; this does not resolve indeterminacy about professional identity, but it anchors a reworking of the professional values of ‘good science’ in the direction of more collaboration and mutuality. Thus, in place of the common ‘spectrum’ metaphor, computational biology is better likened to a swamp – a rich and fluid site with many adaptations – and in which scientists are developing more amphibious identities and modes of doing science, at least in this historical phase of the field.

The ground beneath our feet is still holding strong”: Physical and symbolic capital in the rural youth movements crisis in Israel

Journal of Rural Studies, 2025

Highlights • The paper analyzes rural-urban dynamics using the perspective of symbolic capital an... more Highlights
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The paper analyzes rural-urban dynamics using the perspective of symbolic capital and boundaries.
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Using a discourse-analysis methodology, the paper reveals the use of land and agriculture as key symbols of the Israeli rural space.
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We argue that the choice of land as symbolic capital is related to the urban-rural debate over borders and territory.
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The paper demonstrates the diffusion between physical and symbolic capital as reflected in urban-rural dynamics.

Make the desert bloom—imaginaries, infrastructure, and water-land entanglement in desert agriculture in Israel

Agriculture and human values, Jul 10, 2024

Understanding the meaning of land-water entanglement is increasingly important today, in an age o... more Understanding the meaning of land-water entanglement is increasingly important today, in an age of climate change and desertification. Despite the close ties between water and land, literature largely focuses on each of them separately or ignores the attempts to disconnect them. This paper examines the connections and disconnections between water and land in the southern desert of Israel in the shadow of political use and environmental disaster. Drawing on ethnographic research, the paper explores the challenges and successes of intensive agriculture in arid regions, and how water allocation plays a crucial role in making the desert bloom. Weaving between the theoretical framework of &#39;agricultural infrastructure&#39; and &#39;water-land imaginations&#39;, the paper separates between the different imaginations that enable the various dimensions of the water-land entanglement, the efforts made to expand the connection or disconnect them, and between their political, environmental and cultural realization as infrastructures. Overall, this paper provides insights into the ways by which Imaginations, infrastructures and land-water entanglement shape human-environmental interactions in arid regions and agriculture projects in the Anthropocene era.

Make the desert bloom-imaginaries, infrastructure, and water-land entanglement in desert agriculture in Israel

Agriculture and Human Values, 2024

Understanding the meaning of land-water entanglement is increasingly important today, in an age o... more Understanding the meaning of land-water entanglement is increasingly important today, in an age of climate change and desertification. Despite the close ties between water and land, literature largely focuses on each of them separately or ignores the attempts to disconnect them. This paper examines the connections and disconnections between water and land in the southern desert of Israel in the shadow of political use and environmental disaster. Drawing on ethnographic research, the paper explores the challenges and successes of intensive agriculture in arid regions, and how water allocation plays a crucial role in making the desert bloom. Weaving between the theoretical framework of 'agricultural infrastructure' and 'water-land imaginations', the paper separates between the different imaginations that enable the various dimensions of the water-land entanglement, the efforts made to expand the connection or disconnect them, and between their political, environmental and cultural realization as infrastructures. Overall, this paper provides insights into the ways by which Imaginations, infrastructures and land-water entanglement shape human-environmental interactions in arid regions and agriculture projects in the Anthropocene era.

liron shani

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