SUMMARY:

The article by E. Nosenko is a response to the article by N. Yukhneva published in the same section of the journal. Nosenko critically addresses the concept of “Russian Jews” as a special subethnos as put forth by Yukhneva. She also extends her criticism to Iukhneva’s application of the paradigm of civilization to ethnic studies. Nosenko’s response assesses both the heuristic potential of Yu. Bromley’s analytical apparatus, which is used by Yukhneva, and her interpretation of the data of sociological polls and historical facts. As a way of constructive criticism, Nosenko suggests that the category of “ethnolinguistic community” might serve better for the declared analytical purpose. Relying on her own sociological research of Jewish populations in the former Soviet Union, Nosenko puts forward a hypothesis of “situational” or “transitional” identities which better characterizes Jewish life in the Soviet Union than Iukhneva’s concept of Russian-Jewish identity. Analyzing rich historical and sociological empirical data, Nosenko identifies main clusters of problems in respect to the study of identity-formation of Jews in Russia. Those are: classification of ethnic communities in respect to the problem of definition of the group of Jews in Russia, cultural aspects of ethnic communities’ development, issues of ethnic identification and finally the question of whether a new ethnic community of Russian Jews exists. Nosenko contends that those problems ought to be further discussed.