Culture Ethnicity And Migration After Communism

This book addresses the issue of emerging transnationalism in the conditions of post-socialism through focusing on migrants’ identity as a social construction resulting from their experience of the ‘transnational circuit of culture’ as well as from post-Soviet shifts in political and economic conditions in their home regions. Anton Popov draws upon ethnographic research conducted among Greek transnational migrants living on the Black Sea coast and in the North Caucasus regions of Russia who have become involved in extensive cross-border migration between the former Soviet Union (the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Georgia) and Greece (as well as Cyprus). It is estimated that more than 150,000 former Soviet citizens of Greek origin have resettled in Greece since the late 1980s. Yet, many of those who emigrate do not cut their connections with the home communities in Russia but instead establish their own transnational circuit of travel between Greece and Russia. This study demonstrates how migrants employ their ethnicity as symbolic capital available for investment in transnational migration. Simultaneously they rework their practices of family networking, property relations and political participation in a way which strengthens their attachment to the local territory. The findings presented in the book imply that the social identities, economic strategies, political practices and cultural representation of the Russia’s Pontic Greeks are all deeply embedded in the shifting social and cultural landscape of post-Soviet Russia and extensively influenced by the global movement of ideas, goods and people.

This book addresses the issue of emerging transnationalism in the conditions of post-socialism through focusing on migrants’ identity as a social construction resulting from their experience of the ‘transnational circuit of culture’ as well as from post-Soviet shifts in political and economic conditions in their home regions. Anton Popov draws upon ethnographic research conducted among Greek transnational migrants living on the Black Sea coast and in the North Caucasus regions of Russia who have become involved in extensive cross-border migration between the former Soviet Union (the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Georgia) and Greece (as well as Cyprus). It is estimated that more than 150,000 former Soviet citizens of Greek origin have resettled in Greece since the late 1980s. Yet, many of those who emigrate do not cut their connections with the home communities in Russia but instead establish their own transnational circuit of travel between Greece and Russia. This study demonstrates how migrants employ their ethnicity as symbolic capital available for investment in transnational migration. Simultaneously they rework their practices of family networking, property relations and political participation in a way which strengthens their attachment to the local territory. The findings presented in the book imply that the social identities, economic strategies, political practices and cultural representation of the Russia’s Pontic Greeks are all deeply embedded in the shifting social and cultural landscape of post-Soviet Russia and extensively influenced by the global movement of ideas, goods and people.

How does a severe economic crisis impact on diaspora-homeland relations? The present volume addresses this question by exploring diaspora engagement in Greece during the protracted post-2009 eurozone crisis. In so doing, it looks at the crisis as a critical juncture in Greece’s relations with its nationals abroad. The contributors in this book explore aspects of diaspora engagement, including transnational mobilisation, homeland reform, the role of diasporic institutions, crisis driven migration, as well as, comparisons with other countries in Europe. This book provides a compelling and original interdisciplinary study of contemporary diaspora issues, through the lens of an advanced economy and democracy facing a prolonged crisis, and, as such, it is a significant addition to the literature on European diasporas.

In the different projects of the Thematic Network on Humanitaian Development Studies, there is an underlyin note which is both intended and spontaneously recorded after its activities. We refer to the European dimension and the idea of sharing approaches and perspectives into the analysis on a number of working themes. The initial intentios is, therfore, to create common language and shared points of reference where variety could be read and further understood.

Ethnic diversity is on increase in Europe; at the same time, there is evidence of growing anti-immigrant feeling in some countries, such as Spain (especially in the Southern provinces). In order to build a politically united and democratic Europe, the accommodation of ethnic diversity and the integration of ethnic minorities are both key challenges. This book tries to explain ethnic problems in Europe.

Of about a million Jews that arrived to Israel from the (former) USSR after 1989 some 12% left the country by the end of 2017. It is estimated that about a half of them left "back" for the FSU, and the rest for the USA, Canada and the Western Europe. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of this specific Jewish Israeli Diaspora group through cutting-edge approaches in the social sciences, and examines the settlement patterns of Israeli Russian-speaking emigrants, their identity, social demographic profile, reasons of emigration, their economic achievements, identification, and status vis-à-vis host Jewish and non-Jewish environment, vision of Israel, migration interests and behavior, as well as their social and community networks, elites and institutions. Vladimir Ze’ev Khanin makes a significant contribution to migration theory, academic understanding of transnational Diasporas, and sheds a new light on the identity and structure of contemporary Israeli society. The book is based on the unique statistics from Israeli and other Government sources and sociological information obtained from the author’s first of this kind on-going study of Israeli Russian-speaking emigrant communities in different regions of the world.

The Soviet Union encompassed dozens of nationalities and ethnicities, and in the wake of its collapse, the politics of ethnicity within its former borders and throughout Eastern Europe have undergone tremendous changes. In this book, Zoltan Barany and Robert G. Moser bring together eminent scholars whose theoretically diverse and empirically rich research examines various facets of ethnicity in postcommunist Europe and Eurasia: ethnic identity and culture, mobilization, parties and voting, conflict, and ethnic migration. The contributors consider how ethnic forces have influenced political outcomes that range from voting to violence and protest mobilization to language acquisition. Conversely, each chapter demonstrates that political behavior itself has an impact on the forms and strength of ethnic identity. Thus, ethnicity is deemed to be a contested, malleable, and constructed force rather than a static characteristic inherent in the attributes of groups and individuals with a common religion, race, or national origin.

A Critical Cultural Sociological Exploration of Attitudes toward Migration in Czechia: What Lies Beneath the Fear of the Thirteenth Migrant qualitatively deciphers what lies beneath the fears about the imaginary “thirteenth migrant” and explores how individuals make sense of migration in nontraditional destination countries, utilizing critical, cultural sociological methods to explore the deep meaning-making processes that inform migration attitudes.