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This paper looks at ways in which notions of membership and of just allocation were articulated in the everyday practices of a voluntary organization set up in the early 1990s to distribute clothing and household goods to newcomers from the (former) Soviet Union in Israel. Based on an ethnographic account of the distribution centre, this paper describes its underpinning ideology and demonstrates the implications of this ideology for the rules governing the allocation of goods. The paper analyzes three inter-related axes around which notions of rules of just allocation were equivocally interpreted and implemented. The first of these axes related to the discourse of justice deemed most appropriate to the newcomers; the second to the status of the newcomers; and the third to the creation of social categories—primarily defined in ethnic terms—and the hierarchical relationships between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to collect data on the demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of ethnic Greeks from the former USSR and then assess the extent to which these characteristics affect their integration into the Greek labour market. To achieve this target we employ logistic regression analysis to test a model to predict the case of being employed or not by considering various factors as explanatory variables. A field survey carried out in the broad area of West Athens (total of 6,994 respondents) is used to estimate the parameters of this model. From past experience we identify 13 major variables contributing to employment or not. The results generate an overall model with six of the 13 variables statistically significant. The final part of the paper discusses the policy implications of the findings, particularly the necessity for better professional and language training of the ethnic Greek immigrants from the ex-USSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports that Berlin has become the center for Soviet Jew refugees invited by East Germany's last government in an attempt to make reparations. East Germany's last government pledged in July 1990) to "make reparations" by inviting some of the Jews leaving the Soviet Union to make their home in Germany. But the five hard-pressed eastern provinces now united with West Germany, have been reluctant to follow through on the promise, so Berlin has become the center for Soviet refugees. Matthias Jahr, a spokesman for the Berlin office where the migrants' credentials are examined, says that he and his colleagues are often suspicious of the papers presented by individuals seeking to leave the Soviet Union (Harald Biskup, Kolne-Stadt-Anzeiger, January 2,1991).

The social construction of ethnic and religious identities of Christian immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) arriving in Israel under the Law of Return after 1990, and the role of churches in their social integration, are examined. As Israeli citizens actively involved in Christian churches, they challenge the Jewish character of the state, and the dynamics of their ethnic and religious identity should be understood in this unique context of reception. The analysis sheds light on the complex relationship between ethnic and religious identities and illustrates how different religious organizational configurations (Russian Orthodox and Greek churches) prompt immigrants to forge different patterns of identity along ethnic lines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study of immigrants’ integration in Israel centers on one major subjective parameter, namely the immigrant's identity. To explain it we explore a series of possible factors: demographic variables, economic status, and human and social capital characteristics. Three recent immigrant groups are examined: from Western countries, from the former Soviet Union (FSU), and from Ethiopia. These immigrants came to Israel during the last two decades from different societies, following different immigration circumstances and various motives. The findings, based on the 2007 Ruppin survey data, point to the significant impact of the identity as perceived by veteran Israelis on the immigrants’ self-identity for the three groups under study. Also, different variables affect each of the immigrant groups. FSU immigrants behaved according to most of our hypotheses, whereas Western and Ethiopian immigrants did not. Findings are discussed in light of the debate on measuring and defining immigrants’ identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Few prior studies have investigated the health of U.S. immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Utilizing data from the 2000 U.S. census and the 2000-2007 National Health Interview Survey (NIHS), we compare levels of disability of FSU immigrants with U.S.-born whites (ages 50-84). Our findings suggest an 'epidemiologic paradox' in that FSU immigrants possess higher levels of education compared with U.S.-born whites, but report considerably higher disability with and without adjustment for education. Nonetheless, FSU immigrants report lower levels of smoking and heavy alcohol use compared with U.S.-born whites. We further investigate disability by period of arrival among FSU immigrants. Changes in Soviet emigration policies conceivably altered the level of health selectivity among émigrés. We find evidence that FSU immigrants who emigrated during a period when a permission to emigrate was hard to obtain (1970-1986) displayed less disability compared with those who emigrated when these restrictions were less stringent (1987-2000). Finally, we compare disability among Russian-born U.S. immigrants with that of those residing in Russia as a direct test of health selectivity. We find that Russian immigrants report lower levels of disability compared with Russians in Russia, suggesting that they are positively selected for health despite their poor health relative to U.S.-born whites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study considers the interplay between patterns of immigrants’ self-selection and the context of reception (i.e. migration policies and the operation of the labor market) at the host country on different economic assimilation patterns. We compare three groups of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who arrived in Israel and Germany during 1994—2005: Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel, Jewish immigrants who arrived in Germany (JQR), and ethnic Germans who arrived in Germany (EG). Using the same questionnaire for the German and Israeli samples, we disentangle the impact of the two effects on immigrants’ earnings assimilation by applying the Juhn et al. (1991) method of decomposing the difference in the earnings differentials between natives and FSU immigrants in the two host countries. The results indicate that earnings gaps between FSU immigrants and natives are wider in Germany than in Israel and that the role of contexts of reception is significant in determining patterns of self-selection. We find that the less rigid market attracts the more motivated immigrants, as indicated by the comparison between Jewish immigrant men in Israel and Germany. Within contexts of immigrant reception, the operation of the labor market is more important than formal policies in enhancing economic assimilation of immigrants, as indicated by the comparisons between JQR and EG immigrants in Germany and between Jewish immigrant women in Israel and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article takes a look at the transformation of constructions of belonging during the course of life, and how they are embedded in family and collective history. Based on a case study of three women belonging to one family, who as ethnic Germans migrated in the early 1990's from the Soviet Union to Germany, we were able to demonstrate how questions of belonging were initiated by the migration process and the attributes ascribed to them in their country of arrival. Different family members were seen to perform different strategies of biographical work. This was due to their unique autobiographical experience and their belonging to different historical generations. Thus, the grandmother's experience of deportation from the Volga Republic to Siberia during the course of the Second World War was reactivated during her emigration to Germany. This reconfirmed her construction of belonging as a Volga German. Whereas after migration her daughter in law conceptualizes her belonging as a question of membership of a religious we-group. Her granddaughter, however, before and after emigration successfully searched a connection of the sense of belonging to her family of origin and her peer groups, first in Soviet society which was influenced by the predominantly Russian culture, and later in German society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative case study examines post-immigration reformed identity struggles among high school students from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Specifically, Belarusian, Kazakh, and Russian students in one U.S. public school district recognized and internalized “Russian” and inferior identities given to them by their U.S. teachers and peers, while simultaneously articulating internally viewed identities of superiority over immigrants from different FSU countries and secular superiority over the religious. Data from FSU immigrants, content teachers, and an administrator were analyzed using critical discourse analysis and sociocultural theory. General recommendations to educators, teachers, and administrators are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most significant migration movements that has taken place in the former Soviet space has been that of the ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking communities from the other former Soviet republics to the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR. In 1991 these communities were displaced within their former 'homeland/s', located beyond new political borders and resident within newly independent states, which were undergoing mass social, economic, political and cultural transformation. This article draws upon empirical work conducted amongst those who 'chose' to return - members of migrant communities in a number of regions of the Russian Federation - to understand how, at an individual and community level, their displacement, migration and resettlement are being negotiated. The processes of both dislocation and re-location are understood through a 'home/land' framework which provides a deeper understanding and interrogation of what underpins changing attachments to place. The article demonstrates how, upon 'return', the migrant prioritises the re-creation of an immediately-located 'home' in what is often an unknown wider 'homeland' territory, a process of re-creation that is more often hindered than facilitated by Russian state and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the impact of the arrival of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) on the Middle East Peace Process in Israel from 1988 to 2005. Factors which established U.S. political, economic and military hegemony in the region; Significance of the Israeli government's decision in 1991 to seek some $10 billion of loan guarantees from the U.S. to help absorb the FSU immigrants; Reasons behind the dissatisfaction of FSU immigrant to support the Likud coalition in the 1992 Knesset elections.

Analysis of the integration of immigrants from the FSU is complicated from both theoretical and empirical points of view. First, Israel is at a turning point. The current wave of immigration began at a time when the country was undergoing change. Israeli society is less collectivist and more individualistic than in previous decades, less Zionist, less idealistic and more pragmatic. The economy is less rigidly structured. In other words Israel has become socially, culturally and economically diverse. As a result there are more communities and more identities within the territorial and political entity. Second, most paradigms for the integration of immigrants deal with immigrants moving from non-developed countries to developed countries. In contrast, the case of Russian immigration to Israel is in a sense a Brain Drain of educated people from Russia. Third, in most immigration countries the immigrants are a small minority. In Israel Russian immigrants make up 20 per cent of the population. Three factors account for the integration of Russian immigrants in Israeli society: policies, climate of opinion and the immigrants' ability to organize themselves. Analysis of the interplay between the three factors reveals that the different factors are pushing in different directions. The official policies encourage assimilation. The climate of opinion, especially in some sectors of the Israeli society, creates among many immigrants the feeling that they are not welcomed by Israeli society, and the ability of the community to organize itself is pushing, sometimes, towards segregation of the community. The main conclusion of this article is that it is impossible to identify models of integration .We have to try to identify scripts which are more fluid than models. There are four main scripts of integration of Russian immigrants: Assimilation Script, Separation Script, Transnational Script and Hybridity Script. None of these scripts is dominant; they can coexist with one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article, based on official data and the results of research, examines changes in migration patterns in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), following the disintegration of the former USSR in the early 1990s. It also considers the factors bringing about these changes. The article covers migrations between the CIS countries, as well as between them and the rest of the world. Attention is given, inter alia, to repatriation of ethnic Russians and of other ethnic groups, forced migration of refugees and displaced persons, labour migrant flows, irregular migrations, and the repatriation of former deportees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]