Territorial Migration System and SocioDemographic Structure of Israel

Ilan Riss
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
Discussion

Research Objective
The aim of this research is to understand how territorial migration system is ruled and what
socio-demographic impact on the society it can produce.

Leadership can explain the otherwise

unexplainable
(Marion and Uhl-Bien. 2001, p.390).

Introduction
A migration system is a complex of migration streams to and from a specific geographic
region. A state can have full or partial control of a migration system or disregard it entirely.
Migration streams are frequently short-lived, and no effective management of their system
can be organized in such a short time. At times, administrative structures reflect only the
goals of the state, and the migrants organize themselves to achieve their aims, which may
differ strongly from those of the state. The migrants goals are accomplished by means of
leadership. Management needs some formal apparatus to be implemented, but leadership
can be exercised informally.
Leadership is a process of influencing group activities in the setting and attaining of mutual
goals. A complexity view suggests that leadership is not focused in a person but rather in a
systemic process through which interdependent actions among many individuals are
combined into a joint activity (Uhl-Bien et al., 2007). Consequently, instead of speaking
about leader(s), it is preferable to speak about leadership systems. Leadership system
consists of organizational arrangements, policies and practices through which leadership is
exercised.

Materials and methods

The paper applies system analysis as a theoretical framework (Skyttner, 2005), Netnography
(Kozinets, 2010) and techniques from Grounded theory: coding, constant comparing and
theoretical sampling (Glaser & Strauss, 1968). Texts from various sourcesscientific and
fictional literature, Internet sites, blogs, and newspapers were selected for analysis based on
their relevance to the research issues.

Leadership system is a key mechanism shaping migration

system.
Within a migration system, emerge a bricolage leadership and
bricolage ideology. Bricolage means construction or creation of
objects from a diverse range of available materials and the
improvised adaptation to evolving goals. Bricolage leadership is
comprised of dissimilar and opposing constituents.
Consequently, it produces a plurality of uncoordinated decisionmaking outcomes.

Bricolage leadership system directs the migration system

towards diverse and contradicting targets. It induces the
appearance of self-determining ethnic and economic structures
in migrant communities and hosting society. Consequently, the
migration system is also of bricolage character and is at least
partly composed of streams not desired by the majority of the
population.

Findings
Main components of the Israeli migration system:
Jewish migrations (including non-Jews)
Flows of regular and irregular foreign workers
Moves of Palestinians
Other less significant migration streams.
Main shaping mechanisms of the Israeli migration system:
Governmental (Ministry of Absorption) and public organizations (Jewish Agency)
Physical constructionsseparation wall and border fence
Mental constructions. In a migration leadership system, every political slogan has its
migration consequences and therefore plays an important role in the migration system of
Israel.
Leadership system
Leaders (currently there are no noticeable leaders in the Israeli migration system)
Numerous immigrant organizations serve disparate needs and ends.
Aliyah (Jewish immigration) organizations.
Non-Aliyah organizations of regular and irregular immigrants appeared in the last
decades alongside organizations of the receiving population, which include both
those supporting and opposing specific migration streams.
Collective intelligence
Collective intelligence emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and
competition of numerous directly and indirectly tied individuals and is manifested in
interrelated decision-making.
Modern technology (e.g., Internet) makes collective intelligence the central part of the
leadership system and personal leaders mostly unnecessary. In the past, social decisionmaking had to be carried out by focused leaders; now the invisible hand of collective
intelligence performs the same function.

Literature cited
Mary Uhl-Bien, Russ Marion, Bill
McKelvey. 2007. Complexity
Leadership Theory: Shifting
leadership from the industrial
age to the knowledge era. The
Leadership Quarterly 18 (2007)
298318.
Lars Skyttner. 2005. General
Systems Theory: Problems,
Perspectives, Practice, 2nd Ed.
World Scientific Publishing Co.
Pte. Ltd., Singapore

Robert Kozinets, Netnography:

doing ethnographic research
online, London: Sage 2010.

Conclusions
Socio-Demographic Impact of the Israeli Migration System
The probable result of functioning of the Israeli migration
system is the development of a plurinational Jewish state
namely, one based on the Jewish faith (Hebrew, Jewishbased culture as evident in rites, holidays, cuisine (Kashrut),
but is nonetheless multiethnic and plurinational.
Plurinationality is the coexistence of several different
nationalities within a larger state within which different
identities, cultures, and worldviews exist and are recognized.
Plurinationality is different from multinationality, which may
just refer to the multiple citizenships that is very common in
Israel. Plurinationality means plural national identity.

Acknowledgments
Purrington, C.B. Designing conference posters. Retrieved 05.01.2015 from
http://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design.

Glaser, B. and Strauss, A. (1968).

The Discovery of Grounded
Theory: Strategies for
Qualitative Research. London:
Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Marion, R., & Uhl-Bien, M. (2001).
Leadership in complex
organizations. The Leadership
Quarterly, 12(4), 389-418.

ilanriss@walla.com