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Converting to Belong: Immigration, Education and Nationalization among Young 'Russian' Immigrant Women

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Converting to Belong: Immigration, Education and Nationalization among Young 'Russian' Immigrant Women
Language: English
Authors: Neiterman, Elena, Rapoport, Tamar
Source: Gender and Education. Mar 2009 21(2):173-189.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2009
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Jews, Females, Boarding Schools, Foreign Countries, Personal Narratives, Immigrants, Judaism, Religious Education, Citizenship
Geographic Terms: Israel, Russia
DOI: 10.1080/09540250802213198
ISSN: 0954-0253
Abstract: The paper examines religious conversion to Judaism among young "Russian" immigrant girls in Israel. Looking into the process of conversion in religious boarding schools for girls only ("Ulpana") and in the broader context of the Israeli nation-state, we examine the strategies the educators contrive in inculcating religiosity among the girls, how they legitimise and facilitate their self-transformation, and mobilise them to desire a religious subjectivity. At the same time, we study the experiences of the Russian girls in the "Ulpana", and the meanings they assign to their conversion as depicted in the personal stories they narrated to us. The paper reveals how the "Ulpana" operates as a major nationalisation agent that cultivates a path for the girls to belong to the national religious camp, thus assuring their affiliation to Israeli-Jewish society at large. (Contains 13 notes.)
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 56
Entry Date: 2009
Accession Number: EJ830451
Database: ERIC
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Abstract:The paper examines religious conversion to Judaism among young "Russian" immigrant girls in Israel. Looking into the process of conversion in religious boarding schools for girls only ("Ulpana") and in the broader context of the Israeli nation-state, we examine the strategies the educators contrive in inculcating religiosity among the girls, how they legitimise and facilitate their self-transformation, and mobilise them to desire a religious subjectivity. At the same time, we study the experiences of the Russian girls in the "Ulpana", and the meanings they assign to their conversion as depicted in the personal stories they narrated to us. The paper reveals how the "Ulpana" operates as a major nationalisation agent that cultivates a path for the girls to belong to the national religious camp, thus assuring their affiliation to Israeli-Jewish society at large. (Contains 13 notes.)
ISSN:0954-0253
DOI:10.1080/09540250802213198