Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The holocaust and sociological inquiry: a feminist analysis

  • Published:
Contemporary Jewry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The insights of feminist theory and methodology are used to explore ways in which some of the limitations of sociological study of the Holocaust might be overcome. It is argued that if feminist insights about limitations of sociological inquiry in general and of women, in particular, are made explicit it will be possible to study the Holocaust as other than solely a part of Jewish History and to move its study beyond a specialized niche within academia.

The first section explores some of the explanations for the dearth of sociological inquiry about the Holocaust. The second borrows from feminist epistemological critiques of science to suggest how some of the current obstacles to the sociological study of the Holocaust might be overcome. The third section addresses the ways in which a gender analysis of the Holocaust leads to new ways of asking old questions. Version of paper given at annual meetings of the Association for Jewish Studies, Boston, December 1995.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Applefeld, Aharon. 1994a.Beyond Despair. (translated by Jeffrey Green) New York: Fromm International.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——. 1994b.Unto the Soul. (translated by Jeffrey Green) New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauman, Zygmunt. 1992.Modernity and the Holocaust. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bordo, Susan. 1986. “The Cartesian Masculinization of Thought.”Signs 11: 247–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Code, Lorraine. 1988. “Experience, Knowledge, and Responsibility.” Pp. 187–204 inFeminist Perspectives in Philosophy edited by Mor-wenna Griffiths and Margaret Whitford. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, Cynthia. 1970.Woman’s Place. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fein, Helen. 1979Accounting for Genocide. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt, Uta. 1993.Talcott Parsons’ on National Socialism. New York Aldine De Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, Carol. 1983.In a Different Voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, Myrna. 1990. “Different Horrors, Same Hell: Women Remembering the Holocaust.” Pp. 150–166 inThinking about the Unthinkable: Meanings of the Holocaust, edited by Roger S. Gottlieb. New York: Paulist.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, Debra. 1990. “Engendering Family Theory: Toward a Feminist-Interpretive Framework.” Pp. 107–135 inFashioning Family Theory, edited by Jetse Sprey. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——. 1993.Rachel’s Daughters. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, Lawrence. 1982.Versions of Survival: The Holocaust and the Human Spirit. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipstadt, Deborah E. 1994.Denying the Holocaust. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, Jane Roland. 1988. “Science in a Different Style.”American Philosophical Quarterly 25: 129–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCluskey, Martha T. 1994. “Transforming Victimization.”Tikkun 9: 54–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, Jack Nusan. 1993. “The Holocaust as a Sociological Construct.”Contemporary Jewry 14: 184–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, Linda. 1990.Feminism/Postmodernism. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prosono, Marvin. 1994. “Toward a Sociology and a Science of the Holocaust: A Symbolic Interactionist/Pragmatist Commentary on Holocaust Denial and Anti-Denial.” Meetings, American Sociological Association, Los Angeles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinharz, Shulamit. 1992.Feminist Methods in Social Research. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ringelheim, Joan 1993. “Women and the Holocaust: A Reconsideration of Research.” Pp. 373–419 inDifferent Voices, edited by Carol Rittner and John K. Roth. New York: Paragon House.

    Google Scholar 

  • -. 1995. “Genocide and Gender: A Split Memory.” (Forthcoming).

  • Rittner, Carol and John K. Roth (eds.) 1993.Different Voices. New York: Paragon House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith Dorothy. 1974. “Women’s Perspective as a Radical Critique of Sociology.”Sociological Inquiry 44: 7–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Michael. 1994. “Enhancing me Quality of Survey Data on Vio-lence against Women: A Feminist Approach.”Gender and Society 8: 109–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northeastern University, Northeastern

    Debra Renee Kaufman

Authors
  1. Debra Renee Kaufman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Version of paper given at annual meetings of the Association for Jewish Studies, Boston, December 1995

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kaufman, D.R. The holocaust and sociological inquiry: a feminist analysis. Cont Jewry 17, 6–17 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02965402

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02965402

Keywords

Search

Navigation