TAKING THE STATE OUT OF THE BODY
A Guide to Embodied Resistance to Zionism
Taking the State out of the Body is a guidebook in deconstructing nationalism through an embodied and trauma-informed praxis. You can pre-order the book through PM Press, see what people are saying, and learn more below. Please reach out if you want to collaborate, connect, or plan a stop on the forthcoming book tour.
Prentis Hemphill, founder of the Embodiment Institute
“An important and on time contribution to the somatic field. In Taking the State out of the Body Rubin takes readers through the intricate landscape of embodied resistance and the intersections of identity. Rooted in their experience of Jewish identity and faith and community organizing, this book shows the impact of colonization, trauma and ethno-nationalism on our bodies and reminds us that the way to liberation is always through feeling and towards each other.”
Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (and the next)
“Taking the State out of the Body brilliantly illuminates exactly how cultural patterns of individualism fuel and uphold fascism, zionism, racism, ableism, and the other forces that shape the current structures of war and extraction we are so desperately trying to survive and resist. Eliana Rubin skillfully shows how radical frameworks like somatic healing and transformative justice can help us understand how the infrastructure of violence—the State itself—is implanted in our very psyches and bodies, and what it takes to root it out so that we can become the people we need to be to fight back and build a new world. This book is an immense contribution to resistance movements, which are in great need of politicized healing approaches as we face ecological crisis and collapse.”
adrienne maree brown, author of Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds
“What an incredible resource Eliana has given us with Taking the State out of the Body. While it takes us intimately through the experience of a Jewish embodied experience of moving beyond Zionism, it is also so clear how this text can help everyone with a body think beyond the boundaries of the State and into deep relationship with the earth.”
About the Book:
Taking the State Out of the Body is a guidebook in deconstructing nationalism through trauma informed praxis. Embedded in the political theory and practice of Jewish anti-Zionism, readers from all backgrounds are invited to build an embodied sense of safety that has the power to make militarized borders, policing, and nation states obsolete. We need the resources offered in this book; from understanding geopolitical impacts of intergenerational trauma, to self-regulation in conflict, to transformative approaches to harm, to cultivating long-haul relationships, to building solidarity across our movements.
The framework for Taking the State Out of the Body is situated in the lineages of healing justice and politicized healers including many anti-fascist Ashkenazi Jewish practitioners in 1930s Europe. Today, as the terms “somatics” and “trauma” have been mainstreamed, this book is a timely offer to move from individual awareness to collective action. Weaving anti-imperialist orientations to historical events with embodiment theory, each chapter opens with a connection to a plant or body part and closes with a guide to practices that fuel resistance and resilience. At a time where colonial imperialism in the U.S. and Palestine are rearing their heads and right wing authoritarianism is on the rise globally, this book will equip you with the tools you need to move from rugged individualist models of self-help/preservation to liberatory frameworks of collective care and joint struggle.