The Russians in Israel: A New Ethnic Group in a Tribal Society

About the Talk

“The Russians in Israel: A New Ethnic Group in a Tribal Society” (London: Routledge) explores the immigrants who came to Israel from the Former Soviet Union in the 1990s over the course of the three decades since the arrival of the first wave. In particular, the book focuses on ethnic formation among these immigrants, their location within the ethnic map of Israeli society, and the impact of these immigrants on the traditional bi-polar Ashkenazi-Mizrahi ethnic division.

The talk will address both the existing and the anticipated influences of these immigrants on politics, culture and social structure in Israel as well as their impact on regional issues, in particular the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Based on a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, Prof. Al-Haj will analyze these subjects in the context of the historical developments of Israeli society and the demographic, economic and political changes that have taken place in Israel over time.

About the Speaker

Majid Al-Haj is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology and the Director of the Center for Multiculturalism at the University of Haifa, where he also was a Vice President for Research. He has been a Visiting Professor at Carleton University (Canada), Duke University and Rutgers University (USA). In his academic work, Prof. Al-Haj has focused on Israel Studies, sociology of education, political sociology, inequalities, immigration and comparative ethnic relations.

Prof. Al-Haj is the author of 14 books, and over 100 articles in refereed journals and book chapters in various languages. Among the books he has published are: Education, Empowerment and Control: The Case of the Arabs in Israel (NY: SUNY Press, 1995) and Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided Society: The Case of the 1990s Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2004).