From the Editor's Desk

The 21st issue of Kaveret, the Journal of the School of Behavioral Sciences, The College of Management, probes the meaning of Alienation. It continues the journal’s investigation into the major concepts affecting human life: Love (No. 1, January 2000 and No. 20, July 2012), Leadership (No. 2, March 2001), Freedom (No. 3, June 2001), Justice (No. 4, January 2002), Happiness (No. 5, June 2002), Beauty (No. 6, January 2003), Desire (No. 7, June 2003), Truth (No. 8, January 2004), Self-sacrifice (No. 9, July 2004), Peace (No. 10, February 2005), Identity (No. 11, August 2005), Evil (No. 12, February 2006), Revolution (No. 13, July 2006), Hypocrisy (No. 14, March 2007), Sexuality (No. 15, July 2007), Disappointment (No. 16, July 2008), Parenting (No. 17, July 2009), Humor (No. 18, July 2010), Excellence (No. 19, July 2011) and Love (No. 20, July 2012).

Alienation expresses feelings of isolation or estrangement from others, whether family, friends, or strangers. Alienated people express these feelings by emotionally and socially distancing themselves from others. That is, feelings of alienation motivate people to withdraw into themselves and live in seclusion, with the associated minimal human interaction. This feeling is not limited to the individual; minority groups can also feel alienated if they are assigned inferior status, are marginalized and prohibited from active participation in society. Alienated groups will exhibit behavior characterized by efforts to socially isolate themselves as well as by cultural insulation. Psychologists, sociologists and social workers all share the opinion that feelings of alienation have negative impacts on the individual together with society.

The first three articles in the current issue explore macrolevel aspects of alienation: the meaning of alienation, alienation in modern society and alienation in Israeli society. Later, creative works are offered as part of a discussion of the cost of alienation within the context of technological progress. The second set of four articles discusses alienation in education and in family life. Alienation is also illustrated in two poems and two short stories. Our discussion of alienation continues to adhere to the four principles comprising the Kaveret credo:

1. Consideration of the focal concept (one per issue) from several perspectives: philosophical, psychological, sociological, economic and creative (short stories, verse and art).

2. Discussions are to range from the general to the particular, from comprehensive macro-level issues to detailed micro-level issues relating to individuals, their thoughts, feelings, disappointments and aspirations.

3. Contributors can be students, graduates, teaching assistants and lecturers from the Academic Studies Division as well as other institutions.

4. The format is to be compact, focused and aimed at as broad an audience as possible.

The subject of Kaveret No, 22, to be published in July 2014, will be Aspiration. Manuscripts and original works not exceeding 2000 words in length, written in accordance with the four Kaveret principles, will be accepted following review. Submissions are to be accompanied by a 30-word abstract and up to 6 bibliographical references (author, title, year of publication, city and publisher or journal volume, issue and page numbers). We are also happy to receive responses to earlier issues and articles. Manuscripts are to be submitted no later than 15 December 2013.

Dr. Rachel Pasternak

Editor-in-Chief

School of Behavioral Sciences

Academic Studies Division

The College of Management