Description
Despite their strong impact on the Danish Jewish community, Danish Jewish transnational migrations have been largely neglected by research. Approaching this topic from the perspective of migration studies of privileged migrants, I trace here the changing nature of these migrations: from earlier, more determinate relocations to Israel (aliyah) to a more open field of transnational mobility of the last twenty years. The latter was enabled by an establishment of a richly textured transnational field connecting Denmark and Israel, as well as a broader context of an increased societal acceptance in Israel of Jewish outmigration from Israel back to diaspora. I analyse the role of what I call "resonant encounters" - with other people, experiences, organizations, objects and ideas - in shaping people's migration trajectories over time, and changes in structural stories migrants draw on in making sense of their decisions to migrate, stay or move again. Here I highlight the shift over time, marked by an increase in the importance of structural stories focused on individualized quality of life versus those more important in the past that foregrounded more strongly collective and specifically Jewish aspects of migrants' identity. I argue that studying these transformations is crucial for understanding both, the variegated, transnationalized landscape of the Jewish minority in Denmark today, and the potential for future Israeli-Danish immigration to Denmark.| Period | 17 Mar 2023 |
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| Held at | ØresundsLimmud, Sweden |