TY - JOUR
T1 - From legalism to symbolism
T2 - anti-mobility and national identity in Israel, 1948-1958
AU - Cohen, Nir
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - The paper traces the historical roots of anti-mobility discourse in Israel and examines the changing policies and practices geared towards the prevention of mass Jewish departure during its first decade of statehood. It identifies two distinct phases in the battle waged against international mobility, under the headings of 'Legalism' (1948-1953) and 'Symbolism' (1954-1958). While the former was led by official agencies of the young state and required the passing of laws and other administrative decrees, the latter was mainly a society-led campaign of ad-hoc symbolic practices by groups seeking to de-legitimize international mobility and emigration in particular. Despite their qualitative differences, both were instrumental to the national identity formation project in postindependence Israel, assisting in the construction and maintenance of (physical and cultural) boundaries between Jews in Israel and others - both Diaspora Jews and non-Jews.
AB - The paper traces the historical roots of anti-mobility discourse in Israel and examines the changing policies and practices geared towards the prevention of mass Jewish departure during its first decade of statehood. It identifies two distinct phases in the battle waged against international mobility, under the headings of 'Legalism' (1948-1953) and 'Symbolism' (1954-1958). While the former was led by official agencies of the young state and required the passing of laws and other administrative decrees, the latter was mainly a society-led campaign of ad-hoc symbolic practices by groups seeking to de-legitimize international mobility and emigration in particular. Despite their qualitative differences, both were instrumental to the national identity formation project in postindependence Israel, assisting in the construction and maintenance of (physical and cultural) boundaries between Jews in Israel and others - both Diaspora Jews and non-Jews.
KW - Emigration
KW - Israel
KW - Mobility
KW - National identity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=73749084193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhg.2009.03.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jhg.2009.03.002
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AN - SCOPUS:73749084193
SN - 0305-7488
VL - 36
SP - 19
EP - 28
JO - Journal of Historical Geography
JF - Journal of Historical Geography
IS - 1
ER -