Intimacy in the Occupational Rehabilitation Group for Ultra-Orthodox Women of Low Socioeconomic Status

This ethnographic study of an occupational rehabilitation group for low socioeconomic status ultra-Orthodox women in the Israeli labor market investigates the expression, and role, of intimacy. The findings demonstrate that intimacy appeared early on, revealing an immediate intersubjective understanding between the women, which manifested in empathy, harmony and advocacy, and shared language. They experienced a cross-cultural encounter with a neoliberal model contradicting their values and culture and used their similarity and applied intimacy to emphasize their shared identity and oppose the neoliberal discourse. We discuss intimacy as a practice of hidden, everyday resistance counteracting intercultural tensions and conflicts.