Challenging Ethnic Citizenship - German and Israeli Perspectives on Immigration

In contrast to most other countries, both Germany and Israel have descent-based concepts of nationhood and have granted members of their nation (ethnic Germans and Jews) who wish to immigrate automatic access to their respective citizenship privileges. Therefore these two countries lend themselves well to comparative analysis of the integration process of immigrant groups, who are formally part of the collective "self" but increasingly transformed into "others." The book examines the integration of these 'privileged' immigrants in relation to the experiences of other minority groups (e.g. labor migrants, Palestinians).

This volume offers rich empirical and theoretical material involving historical developments, demographic changes, sociological problems, anthropological insights, and political implications. Focusing on the three dimensions of citizenship: sovereignty and control, the allocation of social and political rights, and questions of national self-understanding, the essays bring to light the elements that are distinctive for either society but also point to similarities that owe as much to nation-specific characteristics as to evolving patterns of global migration.

List of contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Changing Configurations of German and Israeli Immigration Regimes: A Comparative Perspective

Daniel Levy

PART I: CITIZENSHIP AND MIGRATION

Chapter 1. Ethnos or Demos? Migration and Citizenship in Germany

Rainer Münz

Chapter 2. From Haven to Heaven: Changing Patterns of Immigration to Israel

Yinon Cohen

PART II: CITIZENSHIP AND NATURALIZATION

Chapter 3. An Institution of Potential Exclusion: German Citizenship and Naturalization Practices (1815-1949) and the Politics of the 1913 Citizenship Law

Dieter Gosewinkel

Chapter 4. Citizenship and Migration: The Debate Surrounding Dual Citizenship in German

Ralf Fücks

Chapter 5. The Golem and Its Creator or How the Jewish Nation State Became Multi-ethnic

Yfaat Weiss

PART III: MINORITIES AND INCORPORATION REGIMES

Chapter 6. German Citizenship Policy and Sinti Identity Politics

Gilad Margalit

Chapter 7. Beyond "Second-Generation": Rethinking the Place of Migrant Youth Culture in Berlin

Levent Soysal

Chapter 8. Migration Regimes and Social Rights: Migrant Workers in the Israeli Welfare State

Zeev Rosenhek

Chapter 9. Ethnicity and Citizenship in the Perception of Russian Israelis

Dimitry Shumsky

PART IV: CITIZENSHIP AND IDENTITY

Chapter 10. Nationalism, Identity and Citizenship: An Epilogue to the Yehoshua-Shammas Debate

Baruch Kimmerling

Chapter 11. The Future of Arab Citizenship in Israel: Jewish-Zionist Time in a Place with No Palestinian Memory

Hassan Jabareen

Chapter 12. The Transformation of Germany's Ethno-cultural Idiom: the Case of Ethnic German Immigrants

Daniel Levy

PART V: REVISITING CITIZENSHIP AND IDENTITY: THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE

Chapter 13. The Jewish Challenges in the New Europe

Diana Pinto

Chapter 14. From Citizen Warrior to Citizen Shopper and Back: New Modes of Cosmopolitan Citizenship

Natan Sznaider

Afterword: Outlook(s): Citizenship in the Global Era

Daniel Levy and Yfaat Weiss

Notes on Contributors

Index

About the author

Yfaat Weiss studied at the Universities of Tel-Aviv and Hamburg and is presently a Senior Lecturer in the Department for Jewish History at Haifa University and Director of the Bucerius Center for Research of Contemporary German History and Society. She has written on Eastern European Jewry in Germany and on Zionism and the State of Israel.

Summary

In contrast to most other countries, both Germany and Israel have descent-based concepts of nationhood and have granted members of their nation (ethnic Germans and Jews) who wish to immigrate automatic access to their respective citizenship privileges. Therefore these two countries lend themselves well to comparative analysis of the integration process of immigrant groups, who are formally part of the collective "self" but increasingly transformed into "others." The book examines the integration of these 'privileged' immigrants in relation to the experiences of other minority groups (e.g. labor migrants, Palestinians).

This volume offers rich empirical and theoretical material involving historical developments, demographic changes, sociological problems, anthropological insights, and political implications. Focusing on the three dimensions of citizenship: sovereignty and control, the allocation of social and political rights, and questions of national self-understanding, the essays bring to light the elements that are distinctive for either society but also point to similarities that owe as much to nation-specific characteristics as to evolving patterns of global migration.

Additional text

"Well documented, but slim and readable, even for general adult readers."  · Choice

“…sophisticated and highly informative…The authors and topics are diverse and represent a spectrum of useful progressive thought.”   · International Migration Review

Product details

• Authors: Bruce N. Eimer
• Assisted by: Daniel Levy (Editor), Yfaat Weiss (Editor)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.05.2002
• EAN: 9781571812919
• ISBN: 978-1-57181-291-9
• No. of pages: 290
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 235 mm x 20 mm
• Weight: 579 g
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Refugee and Migration Studies,