Diasporas and Ethnic Migrants: Germany, Israel and Russia in Comparative Perspective(Routledge Studies in Nationalism and Ethnicity)

With the political changes between 1989 and 1992, ethnic unmixing and ethnic migration reached a new climax. State formation in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Yugoslavia led to a new dynamic of interethnic relations between majority and minority populations. The break-up of these two multi-ethnic states created new minorities and made certain members of the previous titular nation (eg Russians, Serbs) into ethnic minorities. New states such as Croatia, Estonia and Macedonia were faced with the fact that large segments of their populations consisted of minorities. "Return migration" to Russia occurred when approximately 25 million (ethnic) Russians became minorities in the successor states of the former Soviet Union. In 20th-century Europe overall 40 to 60 million people were transferred, resettled or expelled as a consequence of "ethnic cleansing". This work examines the reasons for and the practice of ethnic migration and the challenges it produces.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Introduction: diasporas and ethnic migrants in 20th century Europe - a comparative perspective, Rainer Ohliger and Rainer Munz. Part 2 Theoretical and comparative perspectives: from diasporas to migrants, from migrants to diasporas, Gabriel Sheffer; minority existence in 20th-century central and eastern Europe -between self and other?, Rainer Ohliger; the American model of diasporic discourse, Khachig Toloyan. Part 3 Making and unmaking diasporas - ethnic unmixing and forced migrations in 20th-century Europe: the spell of the homogeneous nation-state -structural factors and agents of ethnic cleansing, Philipp Ther; ethnic cleansing as an invention of the 20th century - an account of expulsions in Europe, Karl Schlogel; ethnic migrations of the 1990s from and to the successor states of the former Soviet Union - repatriation or privileged migration?, Anne de Tinguy. Part 4 Russia and the post-Soviet successor states - new diasporas and ethnic migrants: the end of an empire - migration and the changing nationality composition of the Soviet successor states, Tim Heleniak; the dissolution of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet ethnic migration - the return of diasporas?, Anatoly Vishnevsky; returning home? approaches to repatriation and migrant resettlement in post-Soviet Russia, Moya Flynn; social citizenship and non-migration - the immobility of the Russian diaspora in the Baltics, Wim van Meurs; today's politics and yesterday's embitterments -ethnic restructuring and its aftermath in the Baltic states, Dovile Budryte; the Russian-speaking identity under the Latvian language policy, Jekaterina Dorodnova; Russians abroad - citizenship and political community in Estonia and Kazakhstan, Jacqueline McLaren-Miller. Part 5 Germany - ethnic migration and diaspora existence in transition: ethnic Germans in central and eastern Europe and their return to Germany, Rainer Munz; young ethnic German immigrants from the former Soviet Union -German language proficiency and its impact on integration, Heike Roll; the politicization of ethnic German immigrants - the transformation of state priorities, Daniel Levy; who organizes? the political opportunity structure of co-ethnic migrant mobilization, Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels. Part 6 Israel - old diasporas and new immigrants; immigration and ethnicity in Israel - returning diaspora and nation-building, Moshe Semyonov and Noah Lewin-Epstein; integration and social dynamic of ethnic migration - the Jews from the former Soviet Union in Israel, William Berthomiere; the Russian language as a base factor - the formation of the Russian community in Israel, Marina Niznik; a case study in transnationalism - Russian Jewish immigrants in Israel of the 1990s, Larissa I. Remennik; the end of normality? - the diasporization of Israel?, William Safran.

About the Author :
Rainer Munz is Professor of Demography at Humboldt University, Berlin. Until 1992 he was director of the Institute for Demography at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. His main fields of interest are international migration, ethnic and linguistic minority issues and the impact of demographic change on social policy. Rainer Ohliger is a researcher within the interdisciplinary research project Gesellschaftsvergleich, based at Humboldt University. His main fields of research are historical migration, inter-ethnic relations and transition in Eastern and Central Europe.