Immigrants in the city: from exploration to domestication

Fialkova, Larisa; Yelenevskaya, Maria

doi:10.1080/13537121.2011.522075

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…While still reluctant to join voluntary organizations of their host society, many people are willing to help their co-ethnics who are new in the country or are in trouble. This sort of help is not registered in organizations, because it is done informally, but it can be traced in internet discussions in local forums and is documented in our ethnographic diaries (see, e.g., Fialkova, Yelenevskaya 2011, Yelenevskaya 2016. A case in point is help provided by Russophone immigrants in the European countries and Israel to the refugees from Ukraine escaping the war with Russia.…”

Section: Business and Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual post-soviet space: Russian language and transnational communities

Yelenevskaya,

Protassova

2023

BAHASTRA

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This article explores linguistic and cultural ties in the informal Russian-speaking communities outside the Former Soviet Union (FSU). We employ qualitative methods, such as internet discourse monitoring, ethnographic observations, content and thematic analysis, and language assessments to examine a complex interplay between language, migration, and identity. We explore the role of a common language and cultural background in shaping the relationships and activities within the communicative sphere of Russian-speaking immigrants. The findings reveal that since the Soviet times, the FSU citizens have developed distrust of official channels and learned to rely on informal social networks. Sometimes immigrants activate their old friendships from study times, sometimes diasporans meet at language courses where they learn the local language, sometimes they get to know each other through children on the playground or during parents’ meetings at school. The virtual fora and mutual interests, aspirations for their children’s future, and attitudes toward political problems may unite or divide people who have left their home country. Overcoming difficulties of the first period of acculturation, acquiring proficiency in the local language/s, becoming familiar with the culture, and expanding social networks beyond the co-ethnics—all of these make permanent resettlement more realistic and desirable. Most often in each individual case there is a whole constellation of push factors that motivated people to migrate, and it is this constellation that distinguishes migrants from Russia and CIS countries from other groups. Although the very notion of diaspora has undergone major changes, migrants still tend to keep together with co-ethnics, at least in the first stages of life away from home. The transnational relations may be motivated by economic interests and are viewed as social capital. In many cases they are vehicles of solidarity and warmth, yet in the periods of political conflict they may also reflect distress, animosities and even mutual hate.

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Section: Business and Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual post-soviet space: Russian language and transnational communities

Yelenevskaya,

Protassova

2023

BAHASTRA

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“…In global terms, the presence of immigrants and ethnic minorities is evident in every metropolitan area; they became an integral part of social landscape in capitals as in suburbs. Therefore, studies about Russian immigrants’ presence in Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel (Roberman 2007; Fialkova and Yelenevskaya 2011), Pakistani immigrants in Manchester, England (Werbner 1996), or young Turkish immigrants in Berlin, Germany (Soysal 2002), etc. are examining the immigrant’s participation in public spaces of these cities.…”

Section: Performance Of Belonging In the Context Of Urban Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Celebrating Memory and Belonging: Young Russian Israelis Claim Their Unique Place in Tel-Aviv’s Urban Space

Prashizky

Remennick

2016

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

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Drawing on the theoretical concept of collective memory and migration, and politics of belonging, this article explores performative belonging enacted in the series of holidays and commemorative rites organized by young Russian immigrants in Israel's major metropolis. Our ethnography is based on 18 months of participant observation at the cultural association Fishka in South Tel-Aviv. As part of our field work, we documented public celebrations of Jewish and Russian-Soviet holidays organized by Fishka as acts of public performance seeking to elevate the prestige of Russian culture in Israel. These events reinforced visibility of Russian Israelis in Israel's cultural capital and helped reach out to other urban communities, both native and immigrant. The article discusses the unique contribution of these bicultural young adults to Tel-Aviv's diverse and dynamic urban scene. Our main argument is about the importance of collective memory in migration, whereby holidays and commemorative rites reinforce feelings of belonging and fortify the immigrants' claim on the respectable place in the receiving society.

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“…The presence of immigrants and ethnic minorities is evident in every major metropolitan area; they became an integral part of the social landscape also beyond the traditional gateway cities like New York, London, or Melbourne. Urban sociologists have produced multiple local studies about, for instance, Pakistani immigrants in Manchester (Werbner 1996), young Turkish immigrants in Berlin (Soysal 2002), Russian immigrants in Haifa (Fialkova and Yelenevskaya 2011), and generally about diverse immigrant groups in Europe (Martiniello 2014) that examine the specific forms of their participation in these cities' public spaces. A key question often posed in this context is "how diversity, in its various dimensions, is experienced locally, and what new forms of local belonging emerge in contexts where places are closely connected to so many non-proximate 'elsewheres,' either through migration, trade links or other ways" (Berg and Sigona 2013:5).…”

Section: Theoretical Framing Urban Diversity and Performance Of Belonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weddings in the Town Square: Young Russian Israelis Protest the Religious Control of Marriage in Tel–Aviv

Prashizky

Remennick

2016

City & Community

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The article discusses alternative wedding ceremonies staged in urban spaces as a statement of protest among immigrant couples that cannot marry in rabbinical courts, because they are not recognized as Jews. These public weddings are organized and sponsored by the Fishka association of young Israeli adults of Russian origin. Our field‐work at Fishka included participant observation of its various events during 2013–2014, as well as in‐depth interviews with the key informants, promotional materials, and video recordings of their public wedding ceremonies held in the streets of Tel‐Aviv in 2009–2011. Embedded in the social history of the city and framed in the concepts of urban diversity and the politics of belonging, our ethnographic data juxtapose “Russian” street weddings with other public festivals sponsored by Fishka and other protest actions by minority groups. Alternative, civil weddings emerge as a form of active and critical citizenship among young Russian immigrants, seeking solidarity of other Israelis in the joint effort to reform the status quo and enable civil alternatives to Orthodox marriage. The active political stance and cultural activism of Fishka members challenge native Israelis’ monopoly on communal public space; young immigrants are thus carving a place for themselves in the iconic sites of the city's public cultural sphere.

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Immigrants in the city: from exploration to domestication

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Virtual post-soviet space: Russian language and transnational communities

Virtual post-soviet space: Russian language and transnational communities

Celebrating Memory and Belonging: Young Russian Israelis Claim Their Unique Place in Tel-Aviv’s Urban Space

Weddings in the Town Square: Young Russian Israelis Protest the Religious Control of Marriage in Tel–Aviv

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