The Relationship between the Perception of Historical Symbols and the Alienation of Jewish Emigrants from the Soviet Union

• Author: Jeffrey A. Ross
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591297903200212
• Published date: 01 June 1979
• Date: 01 June 1979
• Subject Matter: Article

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

THE

PERCEPTION

OF

HISTORICAL

SYMBOLS

AND

THE

ALIENATION

OF

JEWISH

EMIGRANTS

FROM

THE

SOVIET

UNION

JEFFREY

A.

Ross

Hamilfon College

SIZABLE

literature in the social sciences has been concerned with the

nature of the relationship between historical symbols and political behavior?

A

Isaacs,

for

instance, points out that

a

common symbolic structure is

a

basic component of an ethnic group’s identity, and that such symbols play a role

in defining that group’s status within its host Barth suggests that such his-

torical images serve to delineate the parameters of interethnic transactions and es-

tablish the rates

of

exchange that govern them.s

He

goes

on to trace

the

role of

such symbols in the social learning of collective behavior patterns and attitudinal

dispositions.

The legitimation of

a

regime in a multiethnic society is affected by its ability

to diffuse its historical symbols among

a

varied population and have them accepted.

This is especially true for mobilizational regimes that desire to achieve

a

basic

transformation

of

political culture. Geertz presents

a

variety

of

cases in which such

regimes have sought to manipulate historical symbols

to

achieve horizontal and

vertical inte,q-~ttion.~ Clearly, the acceptance

of

a

system’s historical pantheon im-

plies the acceptance

of

the system itself, while the rejection of historical symbols may

involve the rejection

of

the system that

is

identified with them.

Accordingly, it is not surprising that the Soviet regime places

a

great deal of

emphasis upon the transmission

of

historical symbols throughout

its

ethnically

diverse territory. Azrael,

in

a

study of Soviet educational practices, describes the

great importance placed upon the acquisition of emotionally laden historical

images through both the explicit and implicit school cumcula.5 The teaching

of

these symbols begins with the most general orientations and progresses over time

to the most specific. Even the casual visitor to the

U.S.S.R.

quickly notices the

profusion

of

often heavy-handed imagery throughout

the

society.g

In this study,

I

shall empirically examine the relationship between perceptions

of

historical symbols and political alienation in the Soviet Union. The proposed

relationship is summarized in the following statement: “Those who do not affec-

tidy value the historical symbols associated with

a

regime are likely to be alienated

from the institutions and ideology of that regime.” This statement should not be

construed

as

suggesting

a

causal relationship between these

two

variables.

I

am

not stating that the rejection of historical symbols causes political alienation

or

that

NO=: This

is

a

revised version

of

a

paper that was presented

to

the annual meeting of the

New England Slavic Association, Harvard Univcrsity, Cambridge, hlassachusetts, April

This literature

is

bcst

summarized

in

the works

of

Murray

Edelman. See his

Politics

as

Sym-

15-16, 1977.

bolic Action:

Mass

Arousal

and

Quiescence

(Chicago: hfarkham,

1971).

‘Harold

R.

Isaacs,

American

JEWS

in

Zsrael

(New York: John

Day,

1967),

pp.

15-41.

’

Frederik Barth, “Introduction,” in Frederik

Ilarth,

ed.,

Ethnic

GrouPs

and Boundaries (Bos-

ton: Little, Brown,

1969),

pp.

9-38.

‘

Clifford Gcertz, “The Integrative Revolution: Primordial Sentiments and Civil Politics in

the

New States,” in Clifford Geertz, ed.,

Old

Societies

and

New

States

(New

York:

Free

Press,

1963).

pp.

105-57.

Jeremy Azrael, “Soviet Union,” in James

S.

Coleman, ed.,

Education

and

Political

Develop-

ment

(Princeton: Princeton University Press,

1965).

pp.

233-48.

a

A

very

good journalistic account

of

this phenomenon

is

found in Hedrick Smith,

The Russians

(New York: Quadrangle,

1976),

pp.

273-301.