Abstract

M. Levin-Rozalis (2000).
Social Representations as Emerging from Social Structure:
The Case of the Ethiopian Immigrants to Israel.
Papers on Social Representations, 9, pages 1.1-1.22
[http://www.psr.jku.at/]

 

The Jews of Ethiopia have moved, en masse, to Israel. They have moved
as a community, not as individuals. They retain their communal way of life.
The differences between the society structure of Jewish immigrants from
Ethiopia (while living in Ethiopia) and that of the absorbing Israeli society
does not lie only in differences of customs. This is merely the surface
manifestation of a far more basic difference between two systems of social
representations, which are in a reciprocal relationship with the different
social organization of the two societies. The study attempts to delineate
the differences between the two systems of social structure and
organization, and the differences in social representations. These
differences make dialogue difficult, and create misunderstandings that
cause pain and frustration to both sides. Perhaps, by understanding these
differences, we can eliminate some of the mutual misunderstanding and
make the absorption of the immigrants from Ethiopia easier.