The social roots of discrimination / Peretz F. Bernstein ; with a new introduction by Bernard M.S. van Praag ; translated by David Saraph.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bernstein, Perez, 1890-1971.

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Antisemitism.

Bernstein, Perez, 1890-1971. Antisemitismus als Gruppenerscheinung.

Bernstein, Perez.

Physical Description:

xxxix, 300 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Piscataway, N.J. : Transaction Publishers, [2009]

Summary:

The Social Roots of Discrimination explains the phenomenon of anti-Semitism. In this classic volume, Peretz F. Bernstein looks for objective reasons why anti-Semitism flourished in European countries. Some civilized people would consider the notion of race uncivilized, but the existence of different races and the inequality of races with their specific race characteristics and on top of that the existence of superior and inferior human races was accepted as a fact of life and as a scientific truth long before the Nazis came to power. Although there is a marked difference in dealing with anti-Semitism in continental Europe in 1920 and the anti-Semitism in, for instance, the US in 2000, Berstein's ideas remain valuable.

Starting from a concrete problem, anti-Semitism in Central Europe, Bernstein puts anti-Semitism in a general sociological theoretical framework. Far from limiting himself to fruitless elaborations on the common perceived unpleasant characteristics of Jews, he recognizes that the group is heterogeneous and that the usual arguments to justify anti-Semitism do not have any general validity, although they may hold for some specific individuals of the hated group, like individual members of any group may be less pleasant. Bernstein's ideas remain valuable.

Bernstein tries to explain the hatred of Jews as the working of a more general mechanism-one that has nothing to do specifically with of Jews as a collective or as individuals. In doing so Bernstein attempts to sketch a general theory of social groups and conflicts between groups. The Social Roots of Discrimination gives an important message both for social scientists and for all intellectuals who are concerned with the strifes between nations, races, and social groups.

Contents:

I Terminological Confusion 25

II Inferiority 42

III The Origin of Enmity 72

IV The Group

1 Distribution of functions 111

2 Group Categories 125

3 Group Characteristics 130

4 Group Ideology 136

5 Biological Categories 142

6 Cultural Categories 156

7 Social Categories 161

8 Local Groups 168

9 The Dominating Category 168

10 Apostates 179

V Group Enmity

1 Neighbouring Groups 182

2 Collective Characteristics 184

3 Antipathy 189

4 Contempt 192

5 Friction, Contrast, Collision, Conflict 194

6 Collective Responsibility 206

7 Degrees of Tension 212

8 Border Tension 217

9 The Minority Group 220

VI Manifestations of Antisemitism 232

1 Religious Antisemitism 233

2 Economic Antisemitism 239

3 Political Antisemitism 251

4 Social Antisemitism 261

5 Cultural Antisemitism 271

6 Racial Antisemitism 275

7 "Jewish Antisemitism" 280.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781412808668

1412808669

OCLC:

229035703