When over 400,000 Soviets immigrated to Israel between 1989 and 1992, they expected to be received warmly in the Jewish state, offered jobs, homes, and financial support. Quite to the contrary, they no longer found themselves members of the life that they had once been accustomed to--they were no longer in the cultural arena of the Bolshoi Ballet but in a desert trailer camp on the outskirts of Be'er Sheva and no longer did they work in an environment of respected scientists in Russia but in the unexpected profession of streetsweepers in Israel. This work chronicles the difficult voyage of nearly 200 of these Soviet immigrants from what was once home to a starkly different life in Israel. With a stirring journalistic approach, Galper presents first-hand interviews with emigres on the streets and in the absorption centers of Israel's cities, towns, and settlements. But much more than a documentary or narrative of the immigrants' experiences, this book is a scholarly analysis that reviews the existing academic literature that has addressed the Soviet immigrant experience in Israel. Not stopping there, Galper adds a new interpretation by adapting Emile Durkheim's theory of anomie in an attempt to explain the sociological phenomena that the new Israelis are encountering.

The Elections in Israel--2003 brings together leading Israeli and North American social scientists and their state-of-the-art, in-depth analysis of the 2003 Israeli national elections. These elections returned Ariel Sharon and the Likud to power amid one of the bloodiest rounds of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and a severe economic downturn in Israel. Contributors analyze the electoral behavior of the voters as a whole and various subgroups, highlighting social cleavages and identity, as well as issues and other strategic considerations. Three chapters analyze in detail the Arab, the national-religious, and the "Russian" vote. The 2003 elections saw Israel's return to the family of parliamentary nations after it experimented with the direct election of the prime minister from 1996 through 2001. The impact of the adoption and repeal of this unique Israeli system of government is another major topic covered in this volume, and several contributions explore the impact of these changes upon the electorate, the party system, and party financing. Other unusual features of the 2003 elections were the low turnout levels among Jewish and Arab voters; political moves to disqualify Arab candidates and lists from running for office, which were overruled by the Supreme Court of Israel; the collapse of the left, the spectacular showing of the centrist Shinui party, and the dominant status of the Likud in the Knesset and in Israeli politics. Through its focus on the 2003 elections, this volume also illuminates developments and changes in Israeli society and politics. Many of these developments--multiculturalism, changes in social stratification, the growing role of the judiciary and of the media, and political reforms--characterize other Western democracies as well, and these are discussed from a comparative perspective. The Elections in Israel--2003 will be of particular interest to those concerned with politics in Israel as well as those concerned with comparative politics and elections in general. Asher Arian is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, a senior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, and professor of political science at the University of Haifa. Michal Shamir is professor of political science at Tel Aviv University.

The Elections in Israel--2003 brings together leading Israeli and North American social scientists and their state-of-the-art, in-depth analysis of the 2003 Israeli national elections. These elections returned Ariel Sharon and the Likud to power amid one of the bloodiest rounds of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and a severe economic downturn in Israel. Contributors analyze the electoral behavior of the voters as a whole and various subgroups, highlighting social cleavages and identity, as well as issues and other strategic considerations. Three chapters analyze in detail the Arab, the national-religious, and the "Russian" vote. The 2003 elections saw Israel's return to the family of parliamentary nations after it experimented with the direct election of the prime minister from 1996 through 2001. The impact of the adoption and repeal of this unique Israeli system of government is another major topic covered in this volume, and several contributions explore the impact of these changes upon the electorate, the party system, and party financing. Other unusual features of the 2003 elections were the low turnout levels among Jewish and Arab voters; political moves to disqualify Arab candidates and lists from running for office, which were overruled by the Supreme Court of Israel; the collapse of the left, the spectacular showing of the centrist Shinui party, and the dominant status of the Likud in the Knesset and in Israeli politics. Through its focus on the 2003 elections, this volume also illuminates developments and changes in Israeli society and politics. Many of these developments--multiculturalism, changes in social stratification, the growing role of the judiciary and of the media, and political reforms--characterize other Western democracies as well, and these are discussed from a comparative perspective. The Elections in Israel--2003 will be of particular interest to those concerned with politics in Israel as well as those concerned with comparative politics and elections in general.

This work examines the reasons for and the practice of ethnic migration and the challenges it produces.

Throughout human history people have moved across national borders. With the advent of globalization, they are now moving in record numbers in search of greater security or better livelihoods. Diasporas have become an ever important and visible presence in the modern world. Their existence has sometimes resulted in violence and ethnic conflict, and on other occasions they have been peacefully assimilated into the culture and citizenship of their chosen country. This comprehensive new book seeks to explain why Diaspora communities are increasing as never before. In an accessible and engaging introduction to the field, Milton Esman looks closely at the difference in the reception of Diaspora communities throughout the world, and the responses of those communities to their new nations. By focusing on ten examples of contemporary Diasporas from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, the book describes and illustrates the problems confronting immigrant communities as they attempt to protect their inherited culture, while coping with the demands and the opportunities they encounter in their adopted country. The book pays particular attention to the types of conflicts that arise from the development of Diaspora communities, and the consequences that these conflicts can have on the international community. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars taking courses in international relations, political sociology, ethnic politics and conflict studies.

The crumbling of the USSR has set Russian-speaking Jews free to emigrate. From the threat of antisemitism to economic disaster, their “good reasons” to do so were numerous and within one and a half decade most of them moved out and scattered throughout the world. This book is about the million that settled in Israel, the half million now in the US and the 200.000 who settled in Germany. This book presents the comparative work of an international team of researchers which delves into the building of communities, the formulation of collective identities and the articulation of public discourse by people who, after eighty years of Marxism-Leninism and compulsory removal from Jewish culture, are now reconstructing their ethnicity. In every place, they face contrasting challenges and as a whole, constitute an ideal case for the study of the making of contemporary transnational diasporas.

To go “beyond” the work of a leading intellectual is rarely an unambiguous tribute. However, when Gideon Toury founded Descriptive Translation Studies as a research-based discipline, he laid down precisely that intellectual challenge: not just to describe translation, but to explain it through reference to wider relations. That call offers at once a common base, an open and multidirectional ambition, and many good reasons for unambiguous tribute. The authors brought together in this volume include key players in Translation Studies who have responded to Toury’s challenge in one way or another. Their diverse contributions address issues such as the sociology of translators, contemporary changes in intercultural relations, the fundamental problem of defining translations, the nature of explanation, and case studies including pseudotranslation in Renaissance Italy, Sherlock Holmes in Turkey, and the coffee-and-sugar economy in Brazil. All acknowledge Translation Studies as a research-based space for conceptual coherence and creativity; all seek to explain as well as describe. In this sense, we believe that Toury’s call has been answered beyond expectations.