About Joel
Joel Schalit is a writer and editor based in Berlin, Germany. An Israeli-American pundit noted for his unique views on Middle Eastern politics and US culture, over the past sixteen years, Schalit has contributed to numerous outlets, including Alternet, The Forward, France 24, and The Guardian. The author of the critically-acclaimed 2002 collection Jerusalem Calling, Schalit’s fifth book, Israel vs. Utopia, was published in 2009 by Akashic Books.
The former managing editor of Tikkun and associate editor of the award-winning Punk Planet, Joel Schalit is a veteran of independent periodical publishing. Starting out in 1994 as a founding editor of the legendary online ‘zine Bad Subjects, Schalit has directed online editorial for the New York-based Jewish journal Zeek, and international news and blogging portal Allvoices. A freelance editorial consultant, he has worked on books for Akashic, AK Press, Continuum, PM Press and VIZ Media.
Between 2002 and 2004, working as the label manager of San Francisco’s Asphodel LTD, Schalit helped supervise one of America’s most influential electronic music imprints. Issuing recordings by the likes of Rhythm and Sound, Ellen Allien, Christian Marclay and Iannis Xenakis, he rebuilt the label’s North American and European marketing and distribution networks. A sound artist in his own right, Schalit was a member of the political performance group Christal Methodists, and, since 2002, the post-rock duo Elders of Zion.
Educated in Israel, the United Kingdom and Canada, Schalit holds a BA in Religion from Reed College, and an MA in Philosophy from the Graduate Theological Union. He engaged in his doctoral studies in the Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought at York University. Schalit’s post-graduate research focused on discourses about religion and modernity in the work of Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and Jurgen Habermas.
Contact: jschalit@gmail.com