Abstract
While in contemporary usage the term ‘diaspora’ is often construed to denote any deterritorialised or transnational population, it most meaningfully refers to dispersal and resettlement of a population elsewhere. Jews are a prime example of such a diaspora. While in the Australian context, Jewish immigrants have many of the middle class and disproportionately professional occupational backgrounds of transnationals, most Australian Jewish immigrants seek permanent resettlement. The surge of Jewish migrants in the past half century has produced a people less assimilated than integrated, part of Australia’s economic, political and social life while conscious of themselves as a community bound together by a common religious tradition, with Zionism — support for Israel — an important element of their lived experience and of the diasporic tradition.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
LSIA1 sample sizes precluded analysis of any other Jewish birthplace groups.
In the 1990s, this agency changed its name to Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA).
References
Birman, D., & Trickett, E. K. (2001). Cultural transitions in first-generation immigrants: acculturation of Soviet Jewish refugee adolescents and parents. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 457–477.
Bokser Liwerant, J. (2013). Latin American Jews in the Unites States: community and belonging in times of transnationalism. Contemporary Jewry, 33(1–2), 121–143.
Bourassa, S. C., Grieg, A., & Troy, P. N. (1995). The limits of housing policy: home ownership in Australia. Housing Studies, 10, 83–104.
Braziel, J. E., & Mannur, A. (Eds.). (2003). Theorizing diaspora: A reader. Malden: Blackwell.
Brubacker, R. (2005). The ‘diaspora’ diaspora. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 28, 1–19.
Chailand, G., Rageau, J., & Petit, C. (1995). The Penguin atlas of diasporas. New York: Viking.
Clark, W. A. V. (2003). Immigrants and the American dream: Remaking the middle class. New York: Guildford Press.
Cohen, S. M. (2006). A tale of two Jewries: the “Inconvenient Truth” for American Jews. Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. Accessed June 15, 2013 at: http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=2908.
DellaPergola, S. (2013). World Jewish population, 2013. In A. Dashefsky & I. M. Sheskin (Eds.), The American Jewish year book, 2113 (pp. 279–358). Dordrecht: Springer.
DellaPergola, S., Rebhun, U., & Tolts, M. (2005). Contemporary Jewish diaspora in global context: human development correlates of population trends. Israel Studies, 10, 61–95.
DellaPergola, S. & Sheskin, I.M. (2014). Global dispersion of Jews: Determinants and consequences. In Brunn, S. (Ed.) The changing world religion map. Dordrecht: Springer (in press).
Dunn, K. M., Forrest, J., Burnley, I. H., & MacDonald, A. (2004). Constructing racism in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 39, 409–430.
Eckstein, G. (2009). Intermarriage among Jewish Australians. In S. Reinharz & S. DellaPergola (Eds.), Jewish intermarriage around the world (pp. 139–152). New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Faist, T. (2009). The crucial meso-level. In M. Martinello & J. Rath (Eds.), Selected studies in International Migration and Immigration Incorporation (pp. 59–90). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Presss.
Faist, T. (2010). Diaspora and transition: What kind of dance partners? In R. Baubock & T. Faist (Eds.), Diaspora and transnationalism: Concepts, Theories and Methods (pp. 9–34). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Gilbert, M. (2010). The Routledge atlas of Jewish history (8th ed.). London: Routledge.
Gold, S. J. (2013). Enhanced agency for recent Jewish migrants to the United States. Contemporary Jewry, 33(1–2), 145–167.
Gorny, Y. (2009). Is the Jewish transnational diaspora still unique? In E. Ben-Rafael & Y. Steinbeerg (Eds.), Transnationalism: Diaspora and the advent of a new (dis)order (pp. 181–194). Leiden: Brill.
Ha’aretz (Israeli English language website) (2013). South African Jewish immigrants still struggling to be accepted in Australia. Posted on Ha’aretz April 30, 2013.
Horowitz, S., & Kaplan, D. E. (2001). The Jewish exodus from the new South Africa: realities and implications. International Migration, 39, 3–22.
Jones, J. (2004). Confronting reality: anti-Semitism in Australia today. Jewish Political Studies Review, 16, 89–103.
Markus, A., Jacobs, N., & Aronov, T. (2009). 2008–2009 Jewish population survey. Preliminary Findings: Melbourne and Sydney. Melbourne: Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation. Monash University.
Productivity Commission. (2004). First Home Buyers. Productivity Commission Inquiry Report No. 28. Melbourne: Australian Government Productivity Commission, Melbourne.
Rubinstein, W. D. (1986). The Jews in Australia. Melbourne: A.F. Press.
Rubinstein, L., & Rubinstein, H. L. (1991). The Jews in Australia – a thematic history. Melbourne: William Heinemann.
Rutland, S. D. (1997). Edge of the diaspora: Two centuries of Jewish settlement in Australia. Rose Bay: Brandl & Schlesinger.
Rutland, S. D. (2003). Post war anti-Jewish refugee hysteria: a case of racial or religious bigotry? Journal of Australian Studies, 77, 69–79.
Rutland, S. D. (2005a). The Jews in Australia. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Pres.
Rutland, S. D. (2005b). Australia’s post war Jewish Migration: the transformation of a community. Teaching History Journal, 39, 12–15.
Rutland, S. D. (2007). Identity with Israel from afar: The Australian story. In D. Ben-Moshe & Z. Segev (Eds.), Israel, the diaspora and Jewish identity (pp. 254–267). Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.
Rutland, S. D., & Eckstein, G. (2009). Jews in Australia. In M. A. Ehrlich (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of the diaspora (pp. 521–526). ABC-CLIO: Santa Barbara.
Rutland, S.D. & Gariano, A.C. (2005). Survey of Jews in the diaspora: an Australian perspective. Unpublished report commissioned by the Jewish Agency Research and Strategy Planning Unit and Department of Zionist Education.
Rutland, S. D. (2011). Jews from the Former Soviet Union in Australia: assimilating or maintaining Jewish identities. Journal of Jewish Identities, 4, 65–85.
Samra, M. (2009). Sephardi Jews in Australia. In M. A. Ehrlich (Ed.), Santa Barbara, CA: Encyclopedia of the diaspora (pp. 526–530). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
Sheskin, I.M. (2010a). Assimilation of Jews from the Former Soviet Union. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Available from the author on request.
Sheskin, I. M. (2010b). A Comparison of American and Australian Jews. Paper presented at the Association for Jewish Studies annual meeting. Available from the author on request.
Sheskin, I. M. (2013). Comparisons of Jewish communities: A compendium of tables and bar charts. Storrs: Mandell Berman Institute, North American Jewish Data Bank and the Jewish Federations of North America. available at www.jewishdatabank.org.
Sheskin, I. M., & Dashefsky, A. (2013). Jewish population in the United States, 2013. In A. Dashefsky & I. M. Sheskin (Eds.), The American Jewish year book (pp. 201–277). Dordrecht: Springer.
Tatz, C., Arnold, P., & Heller, G. (2007). World apart – the new-migration of South African Jews. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing.
Trevelyan, E. N., Acosta, Y.D. & De La Cruz, P. (2013). Home ownership among the foreign-born population of the United States: 2011 American Community Survey Briefs. US Census Bureau.
Vertovec, S. (1997). Three meanings of ‘diaspora’, exemplified among South Asian religions. Diaspora, 6, 277–299.
Wilton, J., & Bosworth, R. (1984). Old World and the New Australia: The Post-war migrant experience. New York: Pantheon.
Winter, I., & Stone, W. (1999). Reconceptualising Australian Housing Careers. Working Paper No. 17. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Wyly, E. K., Martin, D. G., Mender, P., & Holloway, S. R. (2010). Transitional tense: immigration and inequality in American housing markets. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36, 187–208.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Forrest, J., Sheskin, I.M. Strands of Diaspora: The Resettlement Experience of Jewish Immigrants to Australia. Int. Migration & Integration 16, 911–927 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-014-0370-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-014-0370-4