Sociology
“To know one's chains for what they are is better than to deck them with flowers”1, 2
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Lila Corwin Berman, Kate Rosenblatt, and Ronit Y. Stahl's argument that the study of "American Jewish continuity is embedded within patriarchal and misogynistic structures" (168) raises important sociological questions about the production of knowledge. By analyzing how a prevailing set of ideas is shaped by broader social forces and how a group of scholars is deeply enmeshed in a historical context, the authors offer a sociology of knowledge approach that highlights the relationship between society and categories of thought. At the same time that dominant institutions shape questions that are asked (as well as those that are not asked), the answers in turn reinforce the status quo. Being aware of the connection between inquiry and structure enlarges our lenses and challenges the academy to engage in the liberating enterprise of recognizing potential sources of bias. The article "Continuity Crisis" makes us see how the continuity paradigm is bound by ideological chains of time and place and reminds us of Rousseau's eighteenth-century principle: "To know one's chains for what they are is better than to deck them with flowers."
Publication Title
American Jewish History
Publication Date
4-2020
Volume
104
Issue
2-3
First Page
239
Last Page
242
ISSN
0164-0178
DOI
10.1353/ajh.2020.0025
Keywords
Jewish Americans
Repository Citation
Tenenbaum, Shelly, "“To know one's chains for what they are is better than to deck them with flowers”1, 2" (2020). Sociology. 35.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_sociology/35