THE IMPACT OF GEOGRAPHIC MOBILITY ON JEWISH COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION: DISRUPTIVE OR SUPPORTIVE?

One of American sociology's most persistent empirical and theoretical issues has focused on the significance and effects of geographic mobility on ethnic group social organization American Jewish communities have often been the subject of research on this matter Some studies have taken the ethnic group as the unit of analysis, examining changes in community institutions after movement occurs. This was the dominant view in American sociology until the 1950s and early 1960s, when newer research induced contrary evidence strong enough to form an alternative, less pessimistic perspective, concluding that the experience of moving is not nearly so destructive as some commentators have imagined. This paper takes up this long-standing Issue, presenting some empirical evidence and suggesting a resolution of the dual pinecone on the impact of geographic mobility on Jewish community organization, using the individual as the unit of analysis. No consistent significant relationship was found between mobility and Jewish activism, using number of residences or years in local area as the independent variable and controlling for age.