Durkheim and the Jews of France (Chicago Studies in History of Judaism CSHJ (CHUP)) (Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism) (Chicago Studies Hist Judaism-Talmud Land Israel CSHJ-T(CHUP))

by Ivan Strenski

Discussing the work of Emile Durkheim, the author of this study discounts the theory that there is anything "essentially" Jewish in his work. He seeks to show that Durkheim's sociology (especially his sociology of religion), was formed in relation to 19th and 20th century Jewish intellectual life in France. The book examines claims, some anti-Semitic, some not, for the Jewishness of Durkheim's work. In each case Strenski overturns the claim while showing that it can nevertheless open up a fruitful enquiry into the relation of Durkheim to French Jewry. For example, Strenski shows that Durkheim's celebration of ritual had no innately Jewish source, but derived crucially from work on Hinduism by the Jewish Indologist Sylvain Levi, whose influence on Durkheim and his followers has never been acknowledged.

• ISBN10: 6611430636
• ISBN13: 9786611430634
• Publish Date: 8 June 1997
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 2 October 2012
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: University of Chicago Press
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 226
• Language: English