Call for papers. Comparative session on Jewish social mobility and integration (1850-1940). SSHA Conference.
SSHA (Social Science History Association) Conference, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 11-14 November 2021
We are putting together a panel proposal for the Social Science History Association Annual Conference 2021. In a comparative session, we hope to complement our papers on the social mobility and integration of Jewish diamond workers in Amsterdam and the Jewish Dutch elite in the Netherlands in general with other research on Jewish social mobility and integration between 1850 and 1940.
From the second half of the nineteenth century onwards, possibilities for social climbing came within reach of more and more Jews worldwide. Furthermore, in this period Jews increasingly integrated into national societies. At the same time however, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries confronted them with a new, racist form of anti-Semitism that severely hindered their individual life strategies, in Europe ultimately culminating in the Holocaust. We think the processes of integration and upward social mobility should not necessarily be analysed as interdependent, but definitely as interconnected mechanisms. In our view, this approach will make a worthwhile contribution to existing historiography.
We invite scholars researching modern Jewish history worldwide to join us in a comparative session proposal. We welcome all potential panellists studying the social mobility and/or integration of Jews in the modern period worldwide.
At the moment, the SSHA Conference 2021 is planned as a live event, and we will travel to the United States if possible. In case the conference is not proceeding as planned, we will – together with the participants to our session – explore other ways to exchange our views.
Please send proposals (max. 500 words) including a title and a short biographical statement to joris.kok@iisg.nl and sietske.van.der.veen@huygens.knaw.nl by 1 January 2021. We will contact everyone as soon as possible after this date. Please note that if you join us in a successful application, the SSHA requires a fee and membership. More information on travel grants can be found on the website of the SSHA.
More information about the research of Joris Kok into Jewish diamond workers can be found on the website of the International Institute of Social History.
More information about the research of Sietske van der Veen into the Jewish Dutch elite can be found on the website of the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands.