Immigration and ethnic formation in a deeply divided society : the case of the 1990s immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel / / by Majid Al-Haj

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910825645303321
• Autore: Al Haj Majid
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Leiden ; ; Boston, : Brill, 2004
• ISBN: 1-280-46523-9; 9786610465231; 1-4237-1176-9; 90-474-0283-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (265 p.)
• Collana: International studies in sociology and social anthropology, , 0074-8684 ; ; v. 91
• Disciplina: 305.892/4047
• Soggetti: Jews, Soviet - Israel - Social conditions; Immigrants - Israel; Social adjustment - Israel; Social surveys - Israel; Israel Ethnic relations; Israel Emigration and immigration
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [221]-237) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Introduction. -- Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel -- Methodology -- Immigrants' Survey -- Survey of the General Population -- Students' Survey -- Focus Groups -- Chapter 1. Theoretical Framework -- Definitions of "Ethnic Group" -- Immigration and Ethnic Formation -- Ethnic Mobilization -- The Reactive Perspective -- The Competitive Model of Ethnic Mobilization -- Criticism of the Reactive and Competitive Approaches -- Rational Choice Theory -- The Role of the State -- Chapter 2. Israeli Society: A Background -- Immigration and the Construction of Social Boundaries -- Unique vs. Typical Immigration -- An Ideological Value or a Means to Achieve Political Goals -- Immigration and Ethnic Formation in Israel -- Background of Jewish Ethnicity -- Ethnic Composition over Time -- Ethnicity as a Socio-Cultural Rift -- The Modernization-Establishment Approach -- ; The Melting Pot Ideology -- Counter-approaches to Ethnic Relations -- Ethnic mobilization -- Ethnicity and the Religious-Nonreligious Divide -- The Jewish-Arab Divide -- Background -- Policy toward the Palestinians in Israel -- Social Change -- Economic Deterritorialization -- Political Territorialization -- Multiculturalism vs. Tribalism in Israeli Society -- Chapter 3. The Jews of Russia and the Former Soviet Union: Background and -- Waves of Immigration -- Emigration by Russian/Soviet/FSU Jews -- The First Waves to Palestine -- Immigrants from the Soviet Union in the 1970s -- Ethiopia: A New Reservoir of Immigrants -- Aspirations for Aliya from the West -- The 1990s Wave -- Main Trends -- Differences between the 1970s and the 1990s Waves -- Chapter 4. Identity Patterns and Ethnic Formation -- Communal Ethnic Organizations -- Sources of Information, Russian-Language Media -- Motivation for Migration and Connection with the Home Country -- Self-Identification -- Non-Jewish immigrants -- The Other - Definition: How Veteran Israelis Perceive the Immigrants -- Chapter 5. Attitudes toward Civil Society and Freedom of Expression -- Character of Israel -- Attitudes toward Peace -- Freedom of Expression -- Communication Environments -- Permissiveness -- The Ranking of Rights -- Chapter 6. Political Organization -- Voting Patterns in the Knesset Elections -- Collective vs. Individual Factors behind the Voting Patterns -- Factors behind the Voting for Prime Minister -- The Elections of 2003 -- Local Elections -- Chapter 7. Immigrants versus Israeli Society -- Adjustment Patterns -- Residential Adjustment -- Economic Adjustment -- Social Adjustment -- Mutual Influence -- Immigrants' Social Distance from Other Groups in Israel -- Social Distance from Arabs -- Social Distance from other Jewish Groups -- Chapter 8. Attitudes of Veteran Groups toward Immigrants -- Attitudes in the Early 1990s -- Jewish Leadership -- Jewish Public -- The Arab Leadership -- Arab Public -- Trends over Time: A Decade later -- Internal Divisions within Jewish Populations -- Tolerance of Separate Immigrant Organizations -- Social Distance -- The Attitudes of the Younger Generation -- Social Distance as Felt by the Younger Generation -- Concluding Remarks -- References -- List of tables -- List of Figures.
• Sommario/riassunto: This book deals with the ethnic formation among the 1990s immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel, in light of both domestic changes, and developments in the Israel- Arab conflict. Based on a broad variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, the book presents a detailed analysis of identity patterns among these immigrants, their orientation in matters of religion, society, culture and politics, and their relationships with all the constituent groups in Israeli society - including the Palestinian minority. The book provides a new critical perspective on questions of immigration, ethnicity and society in Israel. The analysis is placed in a global theoretical context that challenges the dominant approach in the sociology of immigration in Israel, which is based on the Zionist paradigm.