Cultures of opposition : Jewish immigrant workers, New York City, 1881-1905 / Hadassa Kosak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kosak, Hadassa, 1938-

Series:

SUNY series in American labor history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Employment--New York (State)--New York--History.

Jews.

Foreign workers--New York (State)--New York--History.

Foreign workers.

Jews--New York (State)--New York--Social life and customs.

Politics and government.

History.

Jews--Employment.

New York (State)--New York.

Manners and customs.

Jews--New York (State)--New York--Politics and government.

Physical Description:

x, 220 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2000]

Summary:

This work provides a reinterpretation of the origins of Jewish working-class oppositional culture in the United States. It tells how this culture was characterized by public practices such as strikes, attacks on scabs and police, rent strikes, consumer boycotts, and street parades. The participants in this social unrest ultimately forged an unmistakably new Jewish political culture informed by concepts of social justice, community solidarity and effective community-wide political participation. Enhancing Kosak's fascinating narrative are eleven period photographs.

Contents:

Political Culture and Community: The Historical Perspective 5

Cultural Strategies and Political Culture: The Sociological Perspective 6

The Ethnic Identity Perspective 9

Synthesis and Narrative: Jewish Immigrants, 1881 to 1905 12

Chapter 1 Jewish Immigrants to the United States, 1881 to 1905: The Decline of the Old Communities 15

The Emigrants 16

Jewish Citizenship in Action 23

The Decline of Traditional Communities 26

The Impetus to Emigrate 28

Chapter 2 Conflicted Cultures: West and East European Jews 37

A Prologue: The Brody Episode 39

Settlement 43

Official Philanthropy and Communal Networks 49

Self-Help Networks and the Making of Social Solidarity 56

Chapter 3 Jewish Immigrants and the New York Clothing Industry 61

Garmentmaking: From Craft to Industry 64

Routes of Entry into the Garment Industry 69

Earnings and Work Hours 74

Chapter 4 Making a Home and Earning a Living on the Lower East Side 81

Demography and Economy 83

Self-Help and Social Organization 87

German Jews and the Immigrant Community: Geography, Economy, and Ideology 92

The Origins of Jewish Labor Organizations 99

Chapter 15 Themes of Collective Action 107

The Culture of Collective Action 108

Interpretations of Labor Unrest 114

Struggles for Control of the Workplace 118

Struggles for Closed Shop and against Scabs 120

Struggles against Sweatshops and the Contracting System 125

Struggles against the Task System 127

Chapter 6 The Politics of Morality: Jewish Workers and the Ethnic Community 131

Agencies of Cultural Transmission 134

Appropriating the Power of the Law 140

The Jewish Community and Established Justice 146

Community as an Economic and Social Weapon 149.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 165-214) and index.

ISBN:

0791445836

0791445844

OCLC:

43561961