Throughout the world, certain ethnic groups have made a living through trade and have found a place for themselves in their societies’ middle strata. At times, these ‘middlemen minorities’ have aroused the envy of their neighbors and been subjected to a variety of persecutions. In this book, Walter P. Zenner examines explanations for this phenomenon and analyzes such groups as the Jews, the Chinese, the Scots, and the South Asians abroad.

Minorities in the Middle: A Cross-Cultural Analysis (Suny Series in Ethnicity & Race in American Life)

Politics & Social Sciences

Zenner, Walter P.

Social Sciences

State Univ of New York Pr

Throughout the world, certain ethnic groups have made a living through trade and have found a place for themselves in their societies’ middle strata. At times, these ‘middlemen minorities’ have aroused the envy of their neighbors and been subjected to a variety of persecutions. In this book, Walter P. Zenner examines explanations for this phenomenon and analyzes such groups as the Jews, the Chinese, the Scots, and the South Asians abroad.

Minorities in the Middle: A Cross-Cultural Analysis (SUNY Series in Ethnicity and Race in American Life)

State University of New York Press

The Jews from Aleppo, Syria, and their descendants compose a remarkable but little-known community that has spread throughout the world during the past two centuries, adapting to myriad social settings from Kobe to Buenos Aires. A Global Community is the first comprehensive scholarly interpretation of the historical experience of this unusual community in Syria and in the other places to which Aleppan Jewry have immigrated. Walter P. Zenner points to the social, economic, and cultural links that the various Syrian Jewish communities have made for the unique persistence of community throughout the diaspora. He places special emphasis in the communities in Israel and the United States but also studies the communities in England and Latin America. He utilizes rabbinical responsas, travelers' writings, secondary sources, interviews, and oral histories to provide a unique look into this Middle Eastern Jewish community for those interested in Ashkenazic as well as Sephardic Judaism.

A Global Community: The Jews from Aleppo, Syria (Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology)

History

Middle East

Wayne State University Press

This fascinating anthology of readings contains both a rich blend of classic studies of enduring interest as well as important new research. Altogether, thirty-two anthropologists and social scientists provide an authoritative introduction to the study of human beings and their cultural institutions in cities. The collection's primary concerns are the unique demands posed by urban social environments and the ways in which human cultures have dealt with them. The essays are integrated by several underlying themes, chief among them being adaptation--the strategies people, both as individuals and as members of groups, use to cope with the demands of life in the city. The volume is comparative, drawing on research completed in all parts of the world.

Urban Life: Readings in Urban Anthropology

Gmelch, George

Waveland Pr Inc.

What does urban mean? How do places and spaces change when they become urban? Why are people drawn to cities? How do anthropologists and others study urban places and the people who occupy them? These are some of the questions explored in this compelling and extensively revised fifth edition. As before, Urban Life is topically and geographically wide ranging, with well-crafted contributions offering expert coverage of urban fieldwork experiences, theoretical concepts, and new research from an anthropological perspective. The book is organized into five parts: fieldwork, communities, structures and institutions, migration and adaptation, and globalization and transnationalism. Each part includes an introduction that provides background for its chapters. Each chapter begins with a headnote that highlights its significance. The richly ethnographic content of each chapter appeals to students and encourages them to reconsider their preconceptions about the social life and character of cities and city dwellers.
 Titles of related interest also available from Waveland Press: Lyon-Driskell, The Community in Urban Society, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577667414) and Shannon, Urban Problems in Sociological Perspective, Fourth Edition (ISBN 9781577661955).

Urban Life: Readings in the Anthropology of the City

Kemper, Robert V.

Anthropology