Abstract
This essay discusses the intersection of personal and professional influences on the author’s work and perspectives in Jewish studies. In particular the role of “bonding” and “bridging” capital is discussed: bonding with other Jews, bonding with research colleagues of similar orientations; and bridging with Jews different from myself, Jews in different cultural/societal contexts, between Jews and non-Jews, and between scholars of different orientations. The role of mentors as facilitating and non-facilitating gatekeepers is also discussed. The reflective exercise is recommended as a re-centering device for all scholars. Suggestions for investing in further research in Jewish studies follow the expansion of both bonding and bridging research capital opportunities, such as establishing a think-tank facilitating ongoing dialogue between qualitative and quantitative researchers, and researchers using different units of analysis, in Jewish studies; developing a common core of community study questions and subsidizing their inclusion in community studies; establishing an international question bank to increase comparability and standardization in upcoming surveys; expanding the North American Jewish Data Bank to be global; and reaching out for comparability beyond the community of Jewish studies research. The suitability of the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry as an infrastructure for some of the networking endeavors suggested is considered.
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Notes
As Lareau (2011, p. 362) notes: “Bourdieu suggests that differences in habitus give individuals varying cultural skills, social connections, educational practices, and other cultural resources, which then can be translated into different forms of value (i.e., capital) as individuals move out into the world” (Lareau 2011, p. 362). The mechanisms by which “habitus” actually exert influence are a challenge for theorists. In particular, as Lareau notes, Bourdieu has not paid enough attention to the difference between acquiring and activating the cultural, social, and human capital which we are exposed to as part of our “habitus”; nor has he explored the notion of “gatekeepers” which may facilitate or impede such activation. Lareau makes important advances towards this kind of understanding.
Many thanks to an anonymous reviewer for this apt phrasing.
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Hartman, H. Reflections on My Jewish Habitus and Perspectives. Cont Jewry 34, 107–123 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-014-9113-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-014-9113-2