Jewish and non-Jewish spaces in the urban context / Alina Gromova, Felix Heinert, Sebastian Voigt (eds).

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The unifying thread of this interdisciplinary volume is the fact that Jewish spaces are almost always generated in relation to non-Jewish spaces; they determine and influence each other. This general phenomenon is scrutinized and put to the test again and again in a collection of articles using various urban contexts and discourses as data. The book's contributors deal with the question of how Jewish and non-Jewish spaces are imagined, constructed, negotiated, and intertwined. All the examples and case studies create a mosaic of possibilities for the construction of Jewish and non-Jewish spaces in different settings. The list of examined topics ranges from synagogues to ghettos, from urban neighborhoods to cafes and festivals, from art to literature. This diversity makes the book an interesting addition to the current academic discussion in Europe and beyond. Although the majority of the contributions are focused on Central and Eastern Europe, a more general tendency becomes apparent in all articles: the negotiation of urban spaces seems to be a complex and ambivalent process in which a large number of participants are involved. In this regard, the book contributes to trans-disciplinary urban studies and critical research on spatial relations. (Series: Jewish Cultural History in the Modern Era - Vol. 4) [Subject: Sociology, Jewish Studies, Cultural History, Urban Studies, European Studies]