Insider/Outsider
American Jews and Multiculturalism
$23.95, £13.95 paperback
978-0-520-21122-3
Available Now
288 pages, 6 x 9 inches,
March 1998, Available worldwide
Categories: Jewish Studies; American Studies; Popular Culture; Judaism; Gender Studies; United States History; Literary Studies
March 1998, Available worldwide
Categories: Jewish Studies; American Studies; Popular Culture; Judaism; Gender Studies; United States History; Literary Studies
"A fascinating collection of essays about the Jewish response to the movement known as multiculturalism. The crux of the issue seems to be this: most Jews still see themselves as outsiders in the Great American psychodrama even as other minority groups, particularly African Americans, see them as prototypical insiders. The essays' exploration of this dichotomy is nuanced and sensitive."—Express Books
"One of the most probing and convincing books yet written about multiculturalism focuses on a group systematically excluded from it: Jews. Insider/Outsider uses the Jewish case to sharpen many of multiculturalism's soundest theoretical insights, to strengthen its most wholesome moral instincts, and to challenge some of its least defensible assumptions and practices. This book ironically 'out-multiculturalizes' a multiculturalism persistently aloof from the Jewish Studies programs that are home to most of the twelve contributors."—Tikkun
"One of the most probing and convincing books yet written about multiculturalism focuses on a group systematically excluded from it: Jews. Insider/Outsider uses the Jewish case to sharpen many of multiculturalism's soundest theoretical insights, to strengthen its most wholesome moral instincts, and to challenge some of its least defensible assumptions and practices. This book ironically 'out-multiculturalizes' a multiculturalism persistently aloof from the Jewish Studies programs that are home to most of the twelve contributors."—Tikkun
"Invaluable reading for anyone interested in multiculturalism."—Julius Lester, author of Lovesong
"I know of no other work that, through numerous insights and useful distinctions, so alerts us to and comprehensively documents the ongoing constitutive role of Christian and anti-semitic perceptions of Jewish existence and the interactions between them. Whereas much contemporary historiography has become so specialized that historians have surrendered the larger picture, Biale's panoramic perspective reveals the great value and interest of this work."—Steven E. Aschheim, author of Beyond the Border: The German-Jewish Legacy Abroad
"I know of no other work that, through numerous insights and useful distinctions, so alerts us to and comprehensively documents the ongoing constitutive role of Christian and anti-semitic perceptions of Jewish existence and the interactions between them. Whereas much contemporary historiography has become so specialized that historians have surrendered the larger picture, Biale's panoramic perspective reveals the great value and interest of this work."—Steven E. Aschheim, author of Beyond the Border: The German-Jewish Legacy Abroad
Twelve distinguished historians, political theorists, and literary critics present new perspectives on multiculturalism in this important collection. Central to the essays (all but one is appearing in print for the first time) is the question of how the Jewish experience can challenge the conventional polar opposition between a majority "white monoculture" and a marginalized "minorities of color multiculture." This book takes issue with such a dichotomy by showing how experiences of American Jews can undo conventional categories. Neither a complaint against multiculturalism by Jews who feel excluded from it, nor a celebration of multiculturalism as the solution to contemporary Jewish problems, Insider/Outsider explores how the Jews' anomalous status opens up multicultural history in different and interesting directions. The goal of the editors has been to transcend the notion of "comparative victimology" and to show the value of a narrative that does not rely on competing histories of persecution. Readers can discover in these essays arguments that will broaden their understanding of Jewish identity and multicultural theory and will enliven the contemporary debate about American culture generally.