Product Description

Following the demise of communism in the early 1990s, more than 1.6 million Jews from the former Soviet Union emigrated to Israel, the United States, Canada, Germany, and other Western countries. Larissa Remennick relates the saga of their encounter with the economic marketplaces, lifestyles, and everyday cultures of their new homelands, drawing on comparative sociological research among Russian-Jewish immigrants she conducted over the last decade. Although former Soviets of Jewish origin ostensibly left the former Soviet Union to flee persecution and join their co-religionists, Israeli, North American, and German Jews were universally disappointed by the new arrivals' tenuous Jewish identity and lack of interest in Jewish religious and community life. In turn, Russian Jews, whose identity had been shaped by seventy years of secular education and assimilation into the Soviet mainstream, hoped to be accepted on their own terms, as ambitious and hard working individuals seeking better lives. These divergent expectations shaped lines of conflict between Russian-speaking Jews and the Jewish communities of the receiving countries. Since her own immigration to Israel from Moscow in 1991, Remennick has been both a participant and an observer of this saga, with optimal access to and cultural tools for the study of an ethnic diaspora. This is the first attempt to compare resettlement and integration experiences of a single ethnic community (former Soviet Jews) in various global destinations. It also analyes their emerging transnational lifestyles, spanning three continents and embracing multiple domains of physical and virtual activities. Earlier studies of Soviet-Jewish experience have been narrow, focusing on Russian/Soviet Jewry in its homeland, on Jewish migrations during the twentieth century generally, or else describing the lives of the immigrants in one specific host country. Written from an interdisciplinary perspective, this book opens new perspectives for a diverse readership, including sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, historians, Slavic scholars, and Jewish studies specialists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #748975 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-05
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.56 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 417 pages

Review

"Larissa Remennick's book successfully fills a gap in the study of the historically under-documented and sociologically under-examined global phenomenon of the Soviet Jews.Because of its comprehensive, comparative nature, and thorough selection and analysis of facts, data, and scholarship, Remennick's book is a serious and fresh contribution to the study of the historical phenomenon of the Russian Jews."
-- Sam Kliger, American Jewish Committee, New York

Remennick (Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel) charts the Jewish emigration from the former Soviet Union (FSU) and the issues it has raised in three main destinations: Israel, the US, and Europe. As the book's title suggests, the author seeks to explore the types of identities Soviet Jews have constructed as they adapt to their new homes. She also examines the tensions between desires to integrate and the rise of anti-semitic agitation, especially in Europe. Remmenick, herself a Jewish emigrant from the former Soviet Union, adopts a transnational approach to her subject. Using modern technology, FSU Jews have preserved aspects of their Russian heritage and culture across national borders, including economic and spiritual ties. This transnationalism has shaped the integration of these immigrants into their new homes, but provided them with broader sources of psychological and economic support than previous immigrant generations. While the themes of the book are familiar, the material provides valuable insight into the inner workings of FSU Jews and raises important questions for the nature of ethnic identity formation in the information age. Highly Recommended.
-- J. Haus, CHOICE

"Based largely on the author's own comparative research in the four countries, the book presents an informative and comprehensive picture of various facets of this latest, and likely the last, wave of Russian Jewish immigration. Remennick's comparative analysis of intra-ethnic modes of integration and acculturation is greatly enhanced by her adoption of a transnational perspective. In turn, the framework of transnationalism leads the author to focus on several fascinating topics, such as the emergence of vibrant multi-centered global Russian Jewish diasporas, the formation of hybrid ethno-national identities, multilingualism, and the role the Internet and satellite TV in promoting a thriving Russian ethnic sub-culture. There is really nothing negative I can say about this splendid book. It is clearly written, informative, and addresses a range of fascinating migration, labour market, ethnic, and identity issues. It is highly recommended to all those who are interested in Jewish, Israeli, European (German and Russian), North American, and global studies.
-- Alena Heitlinger, Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

"The author's considerable skills as an ethnographer help put a human face on the acculturation process and illuminate the impressive capacity for self-understanding (and self-deception) among Russian expatriates. Dr. Remennick wrote an important book that is certain to become standard reference for all those studying the immigration and adaption process, as well as a noteworthy addition to the ethnographic literature on selfhood, identity crisis, and self-actualiation."
-- Contemporary Sociology

About the Author

Larissa Remennick is professor of sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University where she is also director of the Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities and editor of the Sociological Papers series published by the Institute.