Doctoral Dissertation Research: Nationalism, Reproduction, and Labor Migration in Israel

本论文研究项目调查了目前在以色列特拉维夫工作的两个人口最多、且明显不同的移徙工人群体的怀孕和生殖经验：尼日利亚妇女和菲律宾妇女。鉴于以色列民族宗教犹太人占多数的民族主义理想，非犹太移民的生育被视为无法承受的经济负担和对以色列国家完整的威胁。在这一人种学背景下，这项研究--与人权医生开放诊所和市梅西拉援助和信息中心合作--通过半结构化访谈、参与者观察和生活史访谈，调查了个别妇女的怀孕和为人父母的经历。调查结果将建立在对外来移民妇女生活的微观社会、社会文化和政治经济背景的更广泛探索的基础上，这些移民妇女生活在一个通常不受欢迎的外国收容社会中。这项研究通过人种学和理论阐述移民妇女的生物繁殖经验，以及民族主义情绪、人口投机、行政政策和限制以及跨国劳动力流动之间的动态相互关系，拓宽了关于跨国劳动力迁移的全球讨论。

This dissertation research project investigates experiences regarding pregnancy and reproduction in two of the most populous, and markedly different, groups of migrant workers currently working in Tel Aviv, Israel: Nigerian and Filipina women. Given Israel's nationalist ideal of an ethno-religious Jewish majority, non-Jewish migrants' reproduction is perceived as an unbearable economic burden and a threat to Israeli national integrity. In this ethnographic context, this study--conducted in affiliation with the Physicians for Human Rights Open Clinic and the municipal Mesila Aid and Information Center--investigates individual women's experiences of pregnancy and parenthood through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and life history interviews. Findings will be anchored in a broader exploration of the microsocial, sociocultural, and political economic contexts of migrant women's lives in a foreign, and often unwelcoming, host society. This study broadens the global discussions regarding transnational labor migration through ethnographic and theoretical elaboration of migrant women's experiences of biological reproduction, and the dynamic interrelationship among nationalist sentiment, demographic speculation, administrative policies and constraints, and transnational labor migration flows.