Ethnicity, Citizenship, Planning and Gender the case of.pdfVIP

G ende r, P lace and C ulture, V o l. 5 , N o. 2 , p p . 1 7 7± 1 8 9, 1 9 9 8 E thnicity , C itiz enship , P lanning and G ender : the cas e of E thiop ian im m igrant w om en in I srael T OV I FEN ST ER, T e l A viv U nivers ity, I s rae l A BSTRACT T h is artic le a na lys es sp atia l exp ress ions of the interre lations hips b etw een ge nd er, e thnicity and citiz e ns h ip am ong E thiop ian im m igrant w om e n in I s rae l. I t ass ess es the imp ac t of the app ro ach infor m ing the I s rae li G overnm ent’ s `M as ter P lans ’ fo r E thiop ia n im m igrants . C r itiq uing the p ro cedural app ro ach adop ted in I s rae li p la nning, it advo ca tes a p luralis t app ro ach . Int rod u ctio n Th is article examines expressions in space of chang es in lifestyle, traditions and gender relations experienced b y Ethiop ian im migrants in Israel, focu sing particula rly on the w ays in w hich ethnicity and n ewly-w on citizenship have affected w om en. The analysis d evelops along twin tracks: on th e one hand I explore the cu ltural u nd erstandings and u ses of space b y im m igrant m en and w om en, and on the oth er hand I examine the p erspective ad opted by the state as a rticulated in planning p rojects that aim ed to `absorb’ Ethiop ian im m igrants w ho arrived in Israel in the 1980s. Th is approach p rovides a b a sis for illustrating spatial dim ensions of the com plex patterning of ethnicity, citizenship and g ender. `Absorp tion’ in this conte xt is a tran slation of the Hebrew w ord K lita, w hich expresses the conce pt of the Israeli state as a hom eland and safe haven for D iaspora Jew s. Israel has the pote ntial