The journeys of (be)longing to the centre: Socio-political stories of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Toronto

This study is an examination of the socio-political family stories of the Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Toronto. It aimed to explore the role of systemic barriers and dominant discourses such as patriarchy, heterosexism and discourses about Jews, former Soviets and immigrants, as well as the rhetoric of Multiculturalism, in the lived experiences of the FSU Jewish immigrant couples in Toronto.;This study builds upon feminist intersectional theory that analyses the connections between subjectivity, nationhood, culture, race, class, gender and sexuality. Data were collected from Testimonio and Oral History interviews and analyzed through the prism of two sets of influences: firstly, Soviet economic and family policy, ethnic politics and their impact on Soviet Jewish families as informing the forms of resistance, the motivation to emigrate, the expectations of the new country and the challenges encountered; and secondly, Canadian gender politics, economic and immigration policies and multiculturalism influences. The findings of the study demonstrate the intricacies of 'personal' and 'political' realms being inextricably intersected. I describe how socioeconomic structures of the socialist Soviet Union and neo-liberal Canada, historical conditions and white middle class heteronormative notions of respectable conduct influence individual and couple experiences of these immigrant Jews, as well as how these immigrants themselves participate in their own oppression adopting the individualistic and meritocratic rhetoric of the neo-liberal society.