Perceptions of Danger Around Jewish Pilgrimages to Uman in Times of Insecurity
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Abstract
This text examines Uman in contemporary Ukraine as a significant Jewish pilgrimage destination in Europe, with a particular focus on the period of 2019–2024. Through the lens of integrated threat theory of prejudice, the author analyzes popular perceptions of danger among pilgrims and local residents. Utilizing qualitative content analysis of posts and comments in Facebook groups, as well as field observations during that period, the research highlights the gendered aspects of these perceptions. Findings reveal several categories related to pilgrimage and danger: pilgrims as appropriators, pilgrims as a threat to local life, the spiritual danger of pilgrimage cancellation, and the wartime insecurities of pilgrimage. Within these dynamics, women emerge both as those perceived to be at risk—especially in discourses of local harassment and vulnerability—and as those shaping debates on safety online. The idea of space holiness is articulated in a limited domain belonging to discourses of pilgrims.
Topics
Ukraine-Russia war (since 2014) Pilgrimage Tourism Main Topic: Other Misogyny Gender Antisemitism Attitudes to Jews
Genre
Geographic Coverage
Copyright Info
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Volume/Issue
46
Page Number / Article Number
12
DOI
Bibliographic Information
Perceptions of Danger Around Jewish Pilgrimages to Uman in Times of Insecurity. 2026: 12. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1007/s12397-025-09709-3
