New Jewish Identities

Edited by Zvi Gitelman, Professor of Political Science and Preston Tisch Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Barry Kosmin, Executive Director at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, London; and András Kovács, Associate Professor at the Central European University, Nationalism Studies Program

A unique collection of essays that deal with the intriguing and complex problems connected to the question of Jewish identity in the contemporary world. Based on a conference held in Budapest, Hungary in July 2001, it analyzes and compares how Jews conceive of their Jewishness. Do they see it in mostly religious, cultural or ethnic terms? What are the policy implications of these views and how have they been evolving? What do they portend for the future of world Jewry?
The authors present new data from west European and post-Communist countries (Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Ukraine) and re-interpret data from other European countries as well as from Israel and the United States, making this a truly comprehensive, comparative and contemporary work.

"The topic "identity" in particular "Jewish identity" is very much discussed nowadays and this volume makes a genuine contribution to the discussion. I read through the articles in a couple of days with unflagging interest."--Péter Kenéz, University of California, Santa Cruz

Contents

Acknowledgments Chapter One Social Identity in British and South African Jewry Chapter Two Religious Identity in the Social and Political Arena: An Examination of the Attitudes of Orthodox and Progressive Jews in the UK Chapter Three Changing Patterns of Jewish Identity among British Jews Chapter Four A Typological Approach to French Jewry Chapter Five Becoming Jewish in Russia and Ukraine Chapter Six The Jewish Press and Jewish Identity: Leningrad/St. Petersburg, 1989-1992 Chapter Seven Patterns of Jewish Identity in the Jewish Community of Moldova: The Behavioral Dimension Chapter Eight Jewish Identity and the Orthodox Church in Late Soviet Russia Chapter Nine Looking Out for One's Own Identity: Central Asian Jews in the Wake of Communism Chapter Ten Jewish Groups and Identity Strategies in Post-Communist Hungary Chapter Eleven Particularizing the Universal: New Polish Jewish Identities and a New Framework of Analysis Chapter Twelve Polish Jewish Institutions in Transition Chapter Thirteen Jewish Identity in the United States and Israel Chapter Fourteen Notes Towards the Definition of "Jewish Culture" in Contemporary Europe Chapter Fifteen Jewish Identity in Transition: Transformation or Attenuation? Index

2003
388 pages
ISBN 978-963-9241-62-6 cloth $49.95 / €42.95 / £33.00