When traumatic historical events and transformations coincide with one's entry into young adulthood, the personal and historical significance of life-course transitions interact and intensify. In this volume, Alena Heitlinger examines identity formation among a generation of Czech and Slovak Jews who grew up under communism, coming of age during the de-Stalinization period of 1962-1968. Heitlinger's main focus is on the differences and similarities within and between generations, and on the changing historical and political circumstances of state socialism/communism that have shaped an individual's consciousness and identity--as a Jew, assimilated Czech, Slovak, Czechoslovak and, where relevant, as an emigre or an immigrant. The book addresses a larger set of questions about the formation of Jewish identity in the midst of political upheavals, secularization, assimilation, and modernity: Who is a Jew? How is Jewish identity defined? How does Jewish identity change based on different historical contexts? How is Jewish identity transmitted from one generation to the next? What do the Czech and Slovak cases tell us about similar experiences in other former communist countries, or in established liberal democracies? Heitlinger explores the official and unofficial transmission of Holocaust remembering (and non-remembering), the role of Jewish youth groups, attitudes toward Israel and Zionism, and the impact of the collapse of communism. This volume is rich in both statistical and archival data and in its analysis of historical, institutional, and social factors. Heitlinger's wide-ranging approach shows how history, generational, and individual biography intertwine in the formation of ethnic identity and its ambiguities.

When traumatic historical events and transformations coincide with one's entry into young adulthood, the personal and historical significance of life-course transitions interact and intensify. In this volume, Alena Heitlinger examines identity formation among a generation of Czech and Slovak Jews who grew up under communism, coming of age during the de-Stalinization period of 1962-1968. Heitlinger's main focus is on the differences and similarities within and between generations, and on the changing historical and political circumstances of state socialism/communism that have shaped an individual's consciousness and identity--as a Jew, assimilated Czech, Slovak, Czechoslovak and, where relevant, as an emigre or an immigrant. The book addresses a larger set of questions about the formation of Jewish identity in the midst of political upheavals, secularization, assimilation, and modernity: Who is a Jew? How is Jewish identity defined? How does Jewish identity change based on different historical contexts? How is Jewish identity transmitted from one generation to the next? What do the Czech and Slovak cases tell us about similar experiences in other former communist countries, or in established liberal democracies? Heitlinger explores the official and unofficial transmission of Holocaust remembering (and non-remembering), the role of Jewish youth groups, attitudes toward Israel and Zionism, and the impact of the collapse of communism. This volume is rich in both statistical and archival data and in its analysis of historical, institutional, and social factors. Heitlinger's wide-ranging approach shows how history, generational, and individual biography intertwine in the formation of ethnic identity and its ambiguities.

This book is about the lives of young 'ordinary' Czech women who came of age in the aftermath of the 1989 Velvet Revolution. It is a collection of interviews with fourteen women of similar age and education, but varying work, marital and childbearing experiences. Three additional chapters outline the design of the study, the social and historical forces that have shaped these women's lives, and the common themes emerging out of the interviews, linking them to both legacies of communism and the current postcommunist transition.

Bringing together the views of expatriate, exiled, and emigre feminists from various parts of the world, this collection explores themes of exile, home, displacement, and the practice of feminism across national boundaries.

The thirteen articles presented here originated with a conference on emigre feminism held at Trent University in October 1996. The authors, most of them now living in Canada, are scholars from South Africa, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Iran, Finland and New Zealand. Their views have been shaped by their experience of specific political and economic changes, such as the dismantling of communism or apartheid, the rise of religious fundamentalism, or rapid marketization. Together the essays offer a rich diversity of intellectual, political, cultural, and religious perspectives.

This book adds a new dimension to our understanding of expatriation by putting a feminist face on the emigre experience.