Immigrants and Bureaucrats

Ethiopians in an Israeli Absorption Center
1. Auflage 1999
ISBN: 978-1-57181-941-3
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, Band 7, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 507 g

Reihe: New Directions in Anthropology

Since Israel is primarily a country of immigrants, the state takes on the responsibility for the settlement and integration of each new group. It therefore sees its role as benevolent and indispensable to the welfare of the immigrants. This be true to some extent. However, the overwhelming effect, the author argues, is exactly the opposite: in her study of Ethiopian immigrants she reaches the conclusion that the absorption centers, which are central to Israeli immigration policy, present an extreme case of bureaucratic control over immigrants; they hinder rather than facilitate integration through the creation of power-dependence relations, with immigrants - whose lives and social structures are constantly interfered with by the officials - being cast as weak, defenseless and needy. They are reduced to helpless charges of these officials whose main goals are to expand and perpetuate their respective organizations and to consolidate their own positions within them. Thus the absorption centers, rather than furthering integration, create dependence on state control and social segregation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hertzog, Esther

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Minderheiten, Interkulturelle & Multikulturelle Fragen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie von Migranten und Minderheiten
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Emanuel Marx

Acknowledgements

List of Hebrew Terms and Israeli Organizations

Map of Israel

Map of Galuyot Absorption Center

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Center as a Dependent System

Chapter 2. Closure and Emergence of Power-Dependence Relations

Chapter 3. The Ethiopian Immigrants as a Social Category and Social Problem

Chapter 4. Social Closure and Power-Dependence Relationships at the Galuyot Absorption Center

Chapter 5. Categorizing Women: An Example of Bureaucratic Influence on Family Organization

Chapter 6. The Role of “Cultural Explanations” in Gender-Based Relations

Conclusion

Select Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Hertzog, Esther
Esther Hertzog was a social worker and school teacher before training as a Social Anthropologist. She is now Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology at Beit Berl College.

Esther Hertzog was a social worker and school teacher before training as a Social Anthropologist. She is now Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology at Beit Berl College.