Nation-building narratives: implications for immigrants and minorities

Abstract

The Nation State and Immigration: The Age of Population Movements is the third of a three-volume set which addresses key challenges facing the contemporary nation state from a global perspective but with special emphasis on the Middle East and Israel. This publication reflects research conducted under the auspices of The Israel Democracy Institute’s “Nation State Project”, which analyzes Israel’s complex reality in which a Jewish majority contends with an Arab minority, ultra-Orthodox religious forces reject the authority of the nation state, and an immigrant society exhibits substantial cultural and ethnic variance. Volume III explores the cultural, social, and political effects of immigration on the contemporary nation state – its character, cohesion, and possible future, as well as on contemporary liberal democracy. Contributions deal with such issues as various liberal approaches to the issue of immigration and immigrant integration, nation-building narratives and their implications for immigrants and minorities, and citizenship tests and integration policy in the United States and in Europe, as well as Israel’s Law of Return and the debate about it and other aspects of the country’s immigration policy.