Suchergebnisse

Diaspora migration is one of many types of migration likely to increase considerably during the early twenty‐first century. This article addresses the many ambiguities that surround diaspora migration with a view to developing a meaningful theoretical scheme in which to better understand the processes involved. The term diaspora has acquired a broad semantic domain. It now encompasses a motley array of groups such as political refugees, alien residents, guest workers, immigrants, expellees, ethnic and racial minorities, and overseas communities. It is used increasingly by displaced persons who feel, maintain, invent or revive a connection with a prior home. Concepts of diaspora include a history of dispersal, myths/memories of the homeland, alienation in the host country, desire for eventual return – which can be ambivalent, eschatological or utopian – ongoing support of the homeland and, a collective identity defined by the above relationship. This article considers four central issues: How does diaspora theory link into other theoretical issues? How is diaspora migration different from other types of migration? Who are the relevant actors and what are their roles? What are the social and political functions of diaspora? On the basis of this analysis a theoretical paradigm of diasporas is presented to enable scholars to move beyond descriptive research by identifying different types of diasporas and the dynamics that differentiate among them. Use of the proposed typology – especially in comparative research of different diasporas – makes it possible to focus on structural differences and similarities that could be critical to the social processes involved.

The article explores the widespread assumption that immigration to Israel is a unique phenomenon which differs structurally from migration to other places. This assumption stems from the view that migrants to other destinations generally leave a place they consider home to find a new home. In terms of the Israeli construction, Jews have been "strangers" in their countries of origin and seek to find a new home by means of migration.The Law of Return (1950), which established an open‐door policy for Jews and extensive support benefits for immigrants in a context of presumed social consensus, has generally been thought to be sui generis. The article considers evidence that shows that in the 1980s and 1990s, Israel is becoming more like other Western countries which admit large numbers of refugees, asylum seekers, foreign workers, persons seeking family unification and diaspora migrants.As in other migration societies, multi‐ethnicity poses problems of cultural integration and some groups seek actively to retain major elements of their earlier cultural heritage.Immigrants have become an identifiable political force to be reckoned with. There is more overt questioning within the society of the open‐door policy for Jewish immigrants than in previous years. Nevertheless, the tradition of "uniqueness" remains strong in the sociology of migration in Israel. Consideration of the empirical reality at the end of the 1990s suggests that the sociology of migration in the Israel context has many important parallels in other societies and is best understood in a global context of theory and practice.

An investigation of patterns of tensions & affinity of ethnic groups toward each other in a section of the immigrant community of Bet Mazmil, (a suburb of Jerusalem). The major independent variables were SC & ethnicity. The problem was to determine how a person's SC & ethnicity influence his behavior towards others & how these two factors categorize him as an object of orientation for others. The, sector of Bet Mazmil studied was the immigrants low-cost housing project, sharply differentiated from the neighboring housing developments physically & by the newness of its inhabitants. B. J. Keeley.