When examining how the social sciences have dealt with ideology, one's first impression is often one of considerable confusion. Sociology in particular is the scene of heated debates about ideology. These debates go sometimes so far as to echo doubts of participants with regard to their opponents’ scientific endeavor, even straightforward denials of their scientific status. This volume brings together a series of articles that throw light on selected aspects of this intricate matter by well-known sociologists Boudon, Wittrock, Arnason, Touraine, Smolicz, Secombe, Wieviorka, Ben-Rafael and Sternberg.
When examining how the social sciences have dealt with ideology, one's first impression is often one of considerable confusion. Sociology in particular is the scene of heated debates about ideology. These debates go sometimes so far as to echo doubts of participants with regard to their opponents’ scientific endeavor, even straightforward denials of their scientific status. This volume brings together a series of articles that throw light on selected aspects of this intricate matter by well-known sociologists Boudon, Wittrock, Arnason, Touraine, Smolicz, Secombe, Wieviorka, Ben-Rafael and Sternberg.
Who and what is a Jew? Is there any common denominator between an ultra-Orthodox rabbi of an Israeli North African community and a Berkeley academic of the Movement for a Secular and Humanistic Judaism? Do Jews the world over convergre and emphasize their unity or do they share contrasting concepts of collective identity? Part I of this book presents a systematic discussion of Jewish identities in this era of (post)modernity. The opportunity is offered by a set of invaluable texts, which appear in Part II. These texts about Jewish identity were invited, in 1958, by Ben-Gurion from 50 intellectuals - rabbis, writers, scientists and lawyers -, from the Diaspora and Israel, representative of the principal streams of contemporary Jewish thought.
Who and what is a Jew? Is there any common denominator between an ultra-Orthodox rabbi of an Israeli North African community and a Berkeley academic of the Movement for a Secular and Humanistic Judaism? Do Jews the world over convergre and emphasize their unity or do they share contrasting concepts of collective identity? Part I of this book presents a systematic discussion of Jewish identities in this era of (post)modernity. The opportunity is offered by a set of invaluable texts, which appear in Part II. These texts about Jewish identity were invited, in 1958, by Ben-Gurion from 50 intellectuals - rabbis, writers, scientists and lawyers -, from the Diaspora and Israel, representative of the principal streams of contemporary Jewish thought.
Only a few decades after the Holocaust, Belgian Jews, like most European Jewries, are under the attack of forces stemming from a variety of sources. How do they confront and stand these new hardships? Research done all over Europe from 2012 through 2013 tried to answer this question. Among the cases investigated, the Belgian Jewry is one of the most interesting. It is both versatile and representative, revealing essential components of the general experience of European Jews today. Conceptual considerations pave the way to the study of their plight that has been, by any criterion, anything but “usual". Belgian Jews, it appears, are “like” many other Jewries in Europe but “a little more”. They highlight the question: is allosemitism at all surmountable?
Only a few decades after the Holocaust, Belgian Jews, like most European Jewries, are under the attack of forces stemming from a variety of sources. How do they confront and stand these new hardships? Research done all over Europe from 2012 through 2013 tried to answer this question. Among the cases investigated, the Belgian Jewry is one of the most interesting. It is both versatile and representative, revealing essential components of the general experience of European Jews today. Conceptual considerations pave the way to the study of their plight that has been, by any criterion, anything but “usual". Belgian Jews, it appears, are “like” many other Jewries in Europe but “a little more”. They highlight the question: is allosemitism at all surmountable?