Description
Book Synopsis Jewish historiography tends to stress the religious, cultural, and political aspects of the past. By contrast the “economy” has been pushed to the margins of the Jewish discourse and scholarship since the end of the Second World War. This volume takes a fresh look at Jews and the economy, arguing that a broader, cultural approach is needed to understand the central importance of the economy. The very dynamics of economy and its ability to function depend on the ability of individuals to interact, and on the shared values and norms that are fostered within ethnic communities. Thus this volume sheds new light on the interrelationship between religion, ethnicity, culture, and the economy, revealing the potential of an “economic turn” in the study of history.
Trade Review “The book at first appears to be incoherent because of the diversity of the subjects treated, but one can remember it surprisingly as a fairly homogeneous whole after having read it from the beginning to the end… [when] the reader is left with a kind of holographic image of a vast and multifaceted Jewish economic activity, which spans many centuries and which admirably and miraculously continues to flourish.” · The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought
“The volume under review is a signal contribution to the recent wave of new research…The result [of this volume’s approach] is rewarding for readers interested in thematic explorations about society, culture, and money, as seen from an insider/outsider perspective.” · Journal of Interdisciplinary History
“The theme…is a vitally important one, Reuveni’s Prolegomena lays out a compelling interpretation of the field…. The volume as a whole is valuable in providing the reader with an overview of the engagement of Jews in the economy, or how Jews were imagined to participate in the economy, particularly in Europe.” · Leora Auslander, University of Chicago
“This is an impressive essay collection that [offers] an innovative approach to modern Jewish history…. Another strong point is that several contributions are based on archival research and deal with little studied contexts, such as Africa or indeed Hungary.” · Tobias Brinkmann, Penn State University
Table of Contents Chapter 1. Prolegomena to an ‘Economic Turn’ in Jewish History
Gideon Reuveni
PART I: RETHINKING THE ECONOMY IN JEWISH HISTORY
Chapter 2. Can Economic History Date the Inception of Jewish Modernity?
Jonathan Karp
Chapter 3. Wandering as Circulation: Dostoevsky and Marx on the ‘Jewish Question’
Kirill Postoutenko
Chapter 4. Money Makes the Jew Go Round: West German Jewry and the Search for Flexibility
Anthony D. Kauders
PART II: JEWS IN THE MARKETPLACE
Chapter 5. All Talk or Business as Usual? Brokerage and Schmoozing in a Swiss Urban Society in the early 19th Century
Susanne Bennewitz
Chapter 6. Socialists, Bankers and Sephardic Jews: The Pereire Brothers and the Crédit Mobilier
Helen M. Davies
Chapter 7. Buying, Selling, Being, Drinking; Or, how the Coffeehouse became a Site for the Consumption of new Jewish Modalities of Belonging
Sarah Wobick-Segev
Chapter 8. Consuming Powers: The “Jewish Department Store” in German Politics and Culture
Paul Lerner
PART III: JEWISH ECONOMIES IN NATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL CONTEXTS
Chapter 9. Going Native: Moritz Jellinek and the Modernization of the Hungarian Economy
Michael L. Miller
Chapter 10. Jews, Plumes, and Global Commerce in the Modern Period
Sarah Abrevaya Stein
Chapter 11. Trading in Torah: Bootleg Bibles and Secondhand Scripture in the Age of European Imperialism
Adam Mendelssohn
Chapter 12. Cut to Zionism: The Emergence of the Diamond Industry in British-Ruled Palestine
David DeVries
Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
Index
