Transnational Jewish Identities, Intersections, and Contexts

Session Submission Type: Panel Session

Abstract

Much attention has been devoted to the question of how the dynamic and ongoing interaction of Jewish communities has contributed to the development of Jewish identity, cultural and economic patterns, thought, and religious belief and practice in the modern Jewish Diaspora. Sociological work on Diasporas offers a variety of approaches for examining questions relevant to notions of self and community. In particular, questions of identity engendered by the experience of Diasporas and migration to various countries have provided a model for exploring the dynamics of both individual and communal identity formulation and articulation among Jews of varying backgrounds and in differing geographical settings, including both urban and rural contexts. Has the immigration and Diasporic experience become a template for exploring themes, such as cultural hybridity and fragmentation of identity, often considered emblematic of the modern era for both Jews and non-Jews in these countries?
This panel considers the Diasporic Jewish experience, examining the intersection of various Jewish communities sociologically, historically, and geographically. Through migration and other instances, there have been various connections between these Jewish communities, as well as between Jewish and non-Jewish ones, that has resulted in influencing Jewish identity and thinking.
This panel proposes to engage a series of questions related to the theme of “context and intersections,” as areas in which Jewish communities have experienced sustained interaction and maintained or fashioned distinct senses of identity despite often fluid and shifting boundaries between them. Drawing on a diversity of academic disciplines, we seek to explore these and other questions concerning Jewish communities globally
How have interactions between communities shaped particularistic and shared identities among Jews? How has it created, altered, and dissolved boundaries between communities? Has it shaped belief and practice, economic and cultural habits, relations with non-Jewish authorities or the state? How has it affected non-Jewish perceptions, attitudes, and behaviour toward Jews? How are perceptions of communal identity and practice related to the identity of the beholder?

Sub Unit

• Social Science

Chair

• Carl S. Ehrlich, York University

Individual Presentations

• Diasporic Liminality from France to Montréal: Re-Negotiating Jewish Identity in Intercultural and Multicultural Contexts - Robert Kenedy, York University

• Globalization, Location, and Identity: Determinants and Consequences of Modern Jewish Geography - Sergio DellaPergola, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Jewish life facing new challenges: Diaspora and Transnationalism revisited - Judit Bokser Liwerant, Unam Mexico