The Jews of Europe in the Modern Era: A Socio-Historical Outline

Book info: The Jews of Europe in the Modern Era: A Socio-Historical Outline (Hardcover, 494 pages) – Central European University Press, 2002. Language: English.

Discusses the socio-historical problem areas related to the presence of Jews in major European societies from the 18th century to our days; differently from most other studies, covers the post-Shoah situation also. The approach is multi-disciplinary, mobilizing resources gained from sociology, demography and political science, based on substantial statistical information. Presents and compares the different patterns of Jewish policies of the emerging nation states and established empires. Discusses education and socio-professional stratification of Jews. Deals with the challenges of emancipation and assimilation, the emergence of Jewish nationalism in various forms, Zionism above all, as well as antisemitic ideologies. The book ends with a scrutiny of post-Shoah situation opposing in this regard Western Europe to the Sovietised East, discussing finally strategies of dissimulation or reconstruction of Jewish identity.

Editorial Reviews Review "Karady's book cogently analyzes the structural transformations of European Jewry from the 18th century to the present, with data drawn from cases as disparate as liberal England and Bolshevik Russia. The book's four long chapters examine demography and social stratification, Jewish emancipation, identity strategies after the Haskalah, and antisemitism and the Shoah; a long epilogue ties together these themes for the era after 1945. Lucidly written and well translated, Karady's book offers many important insights into the main historical processes and structures of the modern era."―Protestant-Jewish Conundrum About the Author Victor Karady was senior research director with the French CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) in Paris; recurrent professor at the Central European University in Budapest.