Exploring the Creative Israeli Diaspora

• In Event: 4151 - International Migration Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 12: Immigrant Workers and the Labor Market II

Abstract

Outmigration from Israel is as old as the state. However, it is only in the past two decades that scholars have applied the term ‘diaspora’ to Israeli émigré communities globally. More recently, studies have called attention to the increasing diversification of these communities, accentuating their segmentation along lines of generation, gender, class, and profession. In this context, it was argued that a more nuanced examination is needed in order to capture the multiplicity that is the Israeli diaspora.
In this chapter we heed to this call by focusing on ‘creative’ Israeli emigrants, a profession-based diasporic sub-group which has increased in both size and influence since the 1990s. Following Florida (2002:8), we define creative professionals as those whose primary economic function is ‘to create new ideas, new technology and/or new creative content’. In addition to being employed in the fields of science/engineering, architecture and design, arts, music and entertainment, this professional group of diaspora-based Israelis share several other socio-economic and cultural characteristics. First, as other ‘creatives’, they are highly-skilled and educated, often having been trained vocationally and/or academically at institutions outside their country of origin. Secondly, they are disproportionately concentrated in global city-regions and, quite often, in specific urban sections/neighborhoods within those cities. Thirdly, they exhibit high rates of entrepreneurship or self-employment in their chosen fields of specialization. As a result, they tend to be considerably more mobile than other Israeli migrants, both within and beyond their initial destination countries. Fourthly, owing to their high levels of cultural capital, they are more inclined towards working and socializing with other ‘creatives’ – either Israelis or not. Finally, their privileged socio-professional status enables them smoother (re)integration process into labor markets in countries of destination, as well as in Israel, in case they choose to return.

Authors

• Nir Cohen, Bar Ilan University

• Steven J. Gold, Michigan State University