Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis note takes as its point of departure the tensions and discrimination against individuals and groups that persist in the United States on the grounds of race and color. It is unfortunately likely that there is a long road ahead before racial and color-based prejudice, abuse, inequality, and indignity are no longer normative in the US. Growing incorporation of Jews in US society and culture brought about the adoption in Jewish social research of concepts and categories routinely used in the classification and analysis of the general population. I take issue with the uncritical use of categories such as race or color in Jewish social scientific research. The study of population diversity is essential for both cognitive and policymaking purposes. However, I maintain that some frequently used classification criteria, along with evident conceptual weaknesses, are plagued by a conscious or unconscious racist component. The use of race and color categories—no matter how well-meaning—is not congruent with a fair and thoughtful approach to social research in general, and to Jewish social research in particular. Instead, it looks like naïve and poorly understood, intentionally offensive or irrelevant concepts are increasingly applied in the definition and study of Jewish minorities. This raises substantial questions regarding the contributions of certain analysis to the resilience of racism in America.

AbstractDifferences of opinion regarding the numerical size of US Jewry are discussed in this article, with special reference to the 2020 Pew survey of Jewish Americans. Issues discussed involve understanding the theoretical assumptions, technical requirements, and accumulated body of knowledge of Jewish demography and population studies as a discipline; the different methods and biases of Jewish social survey research; the variety of possible Jewish population definitions in a world which is no more dichotomous; the essential role children's Jewish socialization in Jewish population estimates; the independence vs. circularity of existing Jewish population estimates. It is argued that different possible estimates can coexist side-by-side, provided assumptions, methods and definitions are fully transparent and amenable to clear common denominators. The study of US Jews cannot be severed from the study of Jews globally.

Los efectos cuantitativos de la Shoá (término generalmente traducido como Holocausto), objeto de numerosos análisis y especulaciones, han sido muy poco explorados con métodos demográficos rigurosos. La primera parte de este artículo pasa revista a los principales factores que deben ser examinados en su totalidad para establecer dichos efectos en la población judía, a corto y largo plazo. La segunda sección ofrece proyecciones demográficas sobre la situación de la población judía en el mundo, en el caso hipotético de que el Holocausto no hubiese ocurrido. El análisis aquí presentado, obviamente especulativo, está basado en numerosos supuestos, más allá de los sugeridos por el autor. Los resultados de proyecciones alternativas revelan que, debido a las generaciones que no nacieron, la alta mortalidad infantil en época de guerra y el envejecimiento actual de la población judía, las pérdidas demográficas continúan extendiéndose mucho más allá de los seis millones de víctimas directas.