Table Of ContentMigration, Settlement, and the
Concepts of House and Home
How do migrants feel “at home” in their houses? Literature on the migrant
house and its role in the migrant experience of home-building is inadequate.
This book offers a theoretical framework based on the notion of home-
building and the concepts of home and house embedded within it. It pres-
ents innovative research on four groups of migrants who have settled in
two metropolitan cities in two periods: migrants from Italy (migrated in the
1950s and 1960s) and from mainland China (migrated in the 1990s and
2000s) in Melbourne, Australia, and migrants from Morocco (migrated in
the 1950s and 1960s) and from the former Soviet Union (migrated in the
1990s and 2000s) in Tel Aviv, Israel. The analysis draws on qualitative data
gathered from forty-six in-depth interviews with migrants in their home-
environments, including extensive visual data. Levin argues that the physi-
cal form of the house is meaningful in a range of diverse ways during the
process of home-building, and that each migrant group constructs a distinct
form of home-building in their homes/houses, according to their specifi c
circumstances of migration, namely the origin country, country of destina-
tion, and period of migration, as well as the historical, economic, and social
contexts around migration.
Iris Levin is a post-doctoral researcher who has recently completed a large
research project at Flinders University and is about to commence a new
project at Tel Aviv University.
Routledge Advances in Geography
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13 Global Port Cities in North 14 Migration, Settlement,
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Migration, Settlement, and the
Concepts of House and Home
Iris Levin
First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of Iris Levin to be identifi ed as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance by her with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
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registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Levin, Iris, author.
Title: Migration, settlement, and the concepts of house and home /
by Iris Levin.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2016 | Series: Routledge advances in
geography ; 14 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2015025801
Subjects: LCSH: Immigrants—Housing—Social aspects—Australia—
Melbourne (Vic.) | Immigrants—Housing—Social aspects—Israel—
Tel Aviv. | Home—Social aspects—Australia—Melbourne (Vic.) |
Home—Social aspects—Israel—Tel Aviv. | Immigrants—Cultural
assimilation—Israel—Tel Aviv. | Immigrants—Cultural assimilation—
Australia—Melbourne (Vic.)
Classifi cation: LCC JV9195.M45 L49 2016 | DDC
307.3/360869120956948—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015025801
ISBN: 978-0-415-72068-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-86680-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Yair, Rona, and Uri
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Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Maps xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1 The Migrant House in the Globalised City 1
2 Settlement, Belonging, and the Migrant Home/House 24
3 “We Just Put It All Together”: Houses of Migrants
from Italy in Metropolitan Melbourne 46
4 “Home Is Where the Heart Is”: Houses of Migrants
from China in Metropolitan Melbourne 77
5 “I Record the Whole Story”: Houses of Migrants
from Morocco in Metropolitan Tel Aviv 108
6 “A House Like This Can Be Everywhere”: Houses
of Migrants from the Former Soviet Union
in Metropolitan Tel Aviv 142
7 Migrant Experiences around the House/Home 174
8 Migrant Settlement and Home-Building in the Home/House 203
Appendix A: Migrants from Italy Who Participated
in This Research 215
Appendix B: Migrants from China Who
Participated in This Research 217
