The Social Roots of Discrimination explains the phenomenon of anti-Semitism. In this classic volume, Peretz F. Bernstein looks for objective reasons why anti-Semitism flourished in European countries. Some civilized people would consider the notion of race uncivilized, but the existence of different races and the inequality of races with their specific race characteristics and on top of that the existence of superior and inferior human races was accepted as a fact of life and as a scientific truth long before the Nazis came to power. Although there is a marked difference in dealing with anti-Semitism in continental Europe in 1920 and the anti-Semitism in, for instance, the US in 2000, Berstein's ideas remain valuable.Starting from a concrete problem, anti-Semitism in Central Europe, Bernstein puts anti-Semitism in a general sociological theoretical framework. Far from limiting himself to fruitless elaborations on the common perceived unpleasant characteristics of Jews, he recognizes that the group is heterogeneous and that the usual arguments to justify anti-Semitism do not have any general validity, although they may hold for some specific individuals of the hated group, like individual members of any group may be less pleasant. Bernstein's ideas remain valuable.Bernstein tries to explain the hatred of Jews as the working of a more general mechanism--one that has nothing to do specifically with of Jews as a collective or as individuals. In doing so Bernstein attempts to sketch a general theory of social groups and conflicts between groups. The Social Roots of Discrimination gives an important message both for social scientists and for all intellectuals who are concerned with the strifes between nations, races, and social groups.

About the Author
Peretz F. Bernstein (1890-1971) grew up in Holland, became active in the Dutch Zionist movement, and was president of the Dutch Zionist Federation (DZF). He was one of the thirty-six signatories to the Israeli Declaration of Independence and became a member of the first Israeli Parliament and later served as minister of economic affairs in two cabinets. Bernard M.S. van Praag is a University Professor Emeritus at Amsterdam School of Economics. He has published many articles in the Economic Journal, the European Economic Review, Econometrica, The Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Public Economics, and Psychometrika.


Book Information
ISBN 9781412808668
Author John W. Thibaut
Format Paperback
Page Count 340
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight(grams) 521g