Looking ‘Against the Grain’ at German-Jewish Intellectuals

German-Jewish intellectuals in the twentieth century are the focus of Against the Grain: Jewish Intellectuals in Hard Times, published this month. The volume, edited by Ezra Mendelsohn, Stefani Hoffman, and Richard I. Cohen, looks at the key figures of German-Jewish thought: Scholem, Strauss, and Kohn, and examines how such thinkers reacted to, and were impacted by, the collection of crises lived by Central European Jews. Below, co-editor Mendelsohn speaks about the volume’s potential to “stir” the field and what brought him to the study in the first place.

 

____________________________________________

 

Berghahn Books: What drew you to the study of the trials and tribulations of Jewish men and women in the twentieth century?

 

Ezra Mendelsohn: The main reason resides in my  interest in the history of my own family.  Both my parents were born in Tsarist Russia, and both ended up in the United States, having lived for some time in British Palestine. 

Continue reading “Looking ‘Against the Grain’ at German-Jewish Intellectuals” →

Reconstructing the Measure and Meaning of Obesity

Obesity is a worldwide problem, and affecting more people all the time. In their timely collection, editors Jessica Hardin and Megan McCullough examine this growing epidemic in their soon-to-be-released book, Reconstructing Obesity: The Meaning of Measures and the Measure of Meanings.The editors analyze the cultural causes and effects to open a new discussion about fatness and obesity.

_________________________________

I asked my students, fresh off a lively discussion about dieting and religious fasting, if any of them would consider taking a new course I was designing called,“Fatness and Obesities.” Only one student raised her hand. What if I change the course’s title – but not its content – to “The Politics of Body Size”? At this suggestion, they all raised their hands. What is the difference?

-Jessica Hardin

Continue reading “Reconstructing the Measure and Meaning of Obesity” →

Hot Off the Presses – New Journal Releases for September

European Judaism
Volume 46, Issue 2
This issue features two special sections: Jews in Eastern Europe: Exile and After and From the Tradition. The former comprises articles on such topics as what it means to be in exile and how those in exile choose where to begin their lives anew; and the latter features articles that explore more traditional or theological subjects such as the status of the Temple in Jewish culture or the praise of silence in contrast to the need to speak out to end avoidable human suffering. This issue also features a review essay, a book reviews section, a poetry section, and a books received section.

Learning and Teaching
Volume 5, Issue 3
This special issue just published focuses on how efforts to increase internationalisation of higher education go hand in hand with educational marketisation. It is the editors’ intention that this special issue contributes to the recent attempts to reconsider the field of internationalisation on more social and ethical grounds.

Mobility in History
Volume 5, Issue 1
With the fifth publication of this yearbook, the editors begin by asking that the fluidity of the field reflect the fluidity of the topic. They suggest that it might be time to consider a merger between the subfields within this discipline so as to continue to push mobility studies in a fruitful direction. With that in mind, they have collected a series of articles that touch on a variety of subjects

Nature and Culture
Volume 8, Issue 3
This special issue is entitled Religious Innovation for a Sustainable Future: Perspectives from Norway, Ghana, China and India and is guest-edited by Nina Witoszek.

Regions and Cohesion
Volume 3, Issue 2
The journal of the Consortium for Comparative Research on Regional Integration and Social Cohesion (RISC), Regions & Cohesion, is a needed platform for academics and practitioners alike to disseminate both empirical research and normative analysis of topics related to human and environmental security, social cohesion, and governance.

Sibirica
Volume 12, Issue 2
This special forum comprises articles based on papers presented at the session “Baikal Issues under Persistent State Care” at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers and serves as an introduction to the economic, social, and political dimensions of a unique natural object.

Social Analysis
Volume 57, Issue 2
Social Analysis has long been at the forefront of anthropology’s engagement with the humanities and other social sciences. In forming a critical, concerned, and empirical perspective, it encourages contributions that break away from the disciplinary bounds of anthropology and suggest innovative ways of challenging hegemonic paradigms through ‘grounded theory’, analysis based in original empirical research.

A New Model for Interstellar Communication

Communication between great distances is nearly instantaneous and is becoming faster every day. But when discussing communication with beings outside of our solar system, emails and text messages are still not fast enough to span the light-years of distance in one person’s lifetime. Civilizations Beyond Earth: Extraterrestrial Life and Society contributor Carl L. DeVito proposes that perhaps communication to the far reaches of space is about leaving a mark or a legacy, much like great civilizations of yore left for modern-day humans.

 

________________________________

 

The laws of physics and the discoveries of astronomy place serious restrictions on interstellar communication.

 

Stars are light-years apart, and the special theory of relativity tells us that there are restrictions on the speed at which information can be exchanged. The times involved in sending and receiving messages, which may exceed many generations, rule out a dialogue.

Continue reading “A New Model for Interstellar Communication” →

European Thought: The ‘Gift’ that Keeps Giving

Is the spread of Western, specifically European, thought truly a gift to the rest of the world, or is this dissemination simply a way of exerting cultural power? Vassos Argyrou seeks an answer to this question in his newly released volume The Gift of European Thought and the Cost of Living. Below, the author explains his inspiration for—and the challenges and rewards of—writing the book, published September 2013.

 

_________________________________________

 

Berghahn Books: What drew you to the study of “European Thought” and what are some examples of this?

 

Vassos Argyrou: “European thought” is a term that in a certain sense was imposed on me as it was used to make the highly contentious claim that it’s a gift to the rest of the world. It refers not only to an intellectual tradition but also to a way of life or culture—European or,  more broadly, Western culture.

Continue reading “European Thought: The ‘Gift’ that Keeps Giving” →

Opening Cassirer and Arendt’s ‘Hidden Conversation’

Hannah Arendt was a German-Jewish political theorist; Ernst Cassirer was a German-Jewish philosopher. The ‘liberal Jewish ethics’ of the two come together in Ned Curthoys’ The Legacy of Liberal Judaism: Ernst Cassirer and Hannah Arendt’s Hidden Conversation. The author explains below his fascination of and engagement with the scholars.

 

_____________________________________

Berghahn Books: What exactly do you mean by the term ‘liberal Judaism’?

 

Ned Curthoys: Well it’s a diasporic phenomenon, a very interesting response to the twin challenges of secular modernization and inveterate Christian inspired anti-Judaism.

Continue reading “Opening Cassirer and Arendt’s ‘Hidden Conversation’” →

‘Wrapped in the Flag of Israel’ Author Earns Heart at East Award

On May 21, 2013, in Tel Aviv, the Heart at East Lifetime Achievement Plaque was bestowed upon Prof. Smadar Lavie. Her scholarly and activist voice for the rights of Mizrahi Jewish women living in Israel received formal recognition. Lavie’s two decades of ethnographic research and community leadership to better the lives of those within these populations not only earned her the award, but also led her to write Wrapped in the Flag of Israel, to be published in April 2014. Below, Lavie explains why Heart at East is significant—both within the State of Israel and for herself.

 

________________________________________________________

 

Smadar Lavie
— Photo by Jutta Henglein-Bildau

I was so thrilled to receive Facebook messages from Reuven Abarjel, co-founder of the Jerusalem Black Panthers, and Shira Ohayon, a longtime Mizrahi feminist and educational director of Israel’s Andalusian Orchestra, that I was to be awarded the Heart at East Lifetime Achievement Plaque in May 2013.

Continue reading “‘Wrapped in the Flag of Israel’ Author Earns Heart at East Award” →

Extra-Terrestrial Life: Good or Bad News?

Is there life beyond Earth? And how will the human race — specifically our media — react if there is? Civilizations Beyond Earth: Extraterrestrial Life and Society, which will be released as a paperback this month, is a collection of essays that address the (plausible) possibility that we are not alone in the universe. If that is true, and if we do one day make contact — wonders contributor Morris Jones — how will news outlets portray such an event? And will that lead to worldwide awe or global panic?

 

________________________________________________________

 

Let’s assume that evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life is discovered tomorrow.

 

Continue reading “Extra-Terrestrial Life: Good or Bad News?” →

The Man, The Legend: General de Gaulle

If you’ve ever visited France, it is likely you are familiar with the name Charles de Gaulle. The Cold War politics of the widely revered former general and president of France are highlighted in General de Gaulle’s Cold War: Challenging American Hegemony, 1963-68, published this month. Author Garret Joseph Martin writes why these policies—respected by French countrymen and women—so dismayed U.S. leaders of the day. The author shares his thoughts about the figurehead, below.

 

_________________________________________________

 

Berghahn Books: What drew you to the study of General Charles de Gaulle?

 

Garret Martin: More than forty years after his death, General Charles de Gaulle remains a towering figure in France, and he was arguably the most influential Frenchman of the twentieth century. Growing up in France, you simply could not escape his presence and his legacy—see the multiple monuments in his honor and the streets named after him.

Continue reading “The Man, The Legend: General de Gaulle” →

Aloha to Beginnings: Writing ‘Legacies of a Hawaiian Generation’

A talk-story, or mo`olelo, is an informal and traditionally Hawaiian way of sharing stories to preserve them for posterity. In The Legacies of a Hawaiian Generation, to be published this month, author Judith Schachter pairs these informal conversations with fieldwork observations to give readers a view into the island culture post-U.S. annexation. Below she shares the story of her beginning in Hawai`i, and how her work took root. 

 

____________________________________

 

My work in Hawai`i began “in small,” with the idea of adding a chapter to my book on American kinship, family, and adoption. I intended to see what happened to Polynesian customs when the U.S. brought its legal system to the Pacific Island state.

Continue reading “Aloha to Beginnings: Writing ‘Legacies of a Hawaiian Generation’” →