Perspectives in the study of American Jewish Ethnicity

Abstract

In this essay, the author reviews the major trends that have characterized the sociological study of American Jews since the early twentieth century. Originating in the structural emphasis of the Chicago school, the treatment of American Jewish ethnicity was dominated for several decades by the primarily cultural focus of melting pot and cultural pluralism theorists. More recently, there has been a shift back to a major consideration of structural factors which support the maintenance of the Jewish group in America. The author concludes that particular attention must be paid to both the cultural and structural dimensions of Jewish ethnicity and that the appropriate context for the study of American Jews must adequately take into account the interaction between these structural and cultural factors. This conceptual synthesis emerges as the suggested basis of future research on American Jews and other ethnic groups in American society.