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In recent decades, processes of postindustrialization, economic restructuring, and globalization have been transforming the landscape of social and economic inequalities in general (Wade, 2003), and in urban settings in particular (Baum, 1997; Fainstein, 1990; Sassen, 1990a, 1991, 1998; Waldinger, 1996). The role of cities as strategic sites in the globalization process and as arenas of economic transformation is central in the literature of globalization and economic restructuring (Fainstein, 2000; Sassen, 1988, 1998).

This article addresses the question of the determinants of public policy at the local level. It is particularly concerned with local political leaders' interpretations of given socioeconomic environments, and the bearing these have on public policy formation.

Aims to examine the effect of government intervention programs in improving the occupational opportunities of new immigrants as self‐employed entrepreneurs or salaried employees, and to determine the effect, if any, of gender and ethnicity.

To examine the effects of two major types of government programs – retraining courses and support for business creation – a sample of 1,195 immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel were interviewed in depth on two different occasions.

The findings indicate that the impact of both government programs was more pronounced for women immigrants and immigrants from the Asian republics.

The study focuses only on two government programs in one country – Israel.

In terms of immigrant incorporation into a society, government programs matter and matter more for disadvantaged groups. Participation in these programs helps diminish any gaps created by market forces.

This study adds to the immigration literature on state intervention by assessing the contribution of government programs and intervention to immigrants’ occupational incorporation.

In the United States, the 1960s and 1970s are characterized as a period of social revolutions. The dictates of social institutions and expectations of everyday life were scrutinized and questioned. The young and not so young mobilized and protested for civil rights, students’ rights, women's rights, against the war in Vietnam and for improvements in city neighborhoods. These movements themselves and the social order they ultimately created were organized, analyzed, debated, and theorized within universities, thus serving as an impetus for change within the academy. One major change was the development of departments devoted to black studies, ethnic studies, and women's studies. Scholarship dealing with minority groups was thereby legitimized. This trend continues with the addition of gay, lesbian, and queer studies.

Much research claims that immigrant women's entrepreneurship in Western capitalist societies is embedded in the structural and cultural attributes of receiving societies. Other studies maintain that the structural and cultural traits of immigrant groups explain women's entrance into this type of business activity. Together, this body of research underestimates those individual attributes embedded in human agency, in the personalities of immigrant women, that encourage them to engage in this type of business enterprise.

Purpose – To answer two related questions, namely, why women in general are excluded from peace-building processes and why women in Israel are excluded from peace-building processes and have to create their own organizations?

Methodology/approach – This is narrative prospective research paper. First, the research focuses on international gender theories regarding participation of women in peace-building processes, and then on the particular situation of women in Israel and their need to form peace movements and organizations of their own.

Findings – The research revealed that Israeli women's absence from the official negotiations with the Palestinians as well as women's exclusion from other peace-building processes is part of a global phenomenon. Given the fact that women have been missing from the Israel's official negotiations with the Palestinians since 1987 when the first Intifada began, and their plight is not addressed, women need to create their own peace movements and organizations for voicing their unique value for the benefit of society at large.

Research limitations – An update of the research should be conducted every two years to check changes in findings.

Value of the paper – The chapter highlights the significance of women's inclusion in peace building. It describes women's exclusion from the peace process in Israel although they have been extremely active and were recognized internationally and stresses the need for a gendered society to end the Palestinian–Israel conflict.