Debra Renee Kaufman

Rachel's daughters : newly Orthodox Jewish women

Explores the experiences and concerns of newly Orthodox Jewish women, addressing such issues as family, feminism, individuality, and spiritual renewal.

Work Motivation and Job Values among Professional Men and Women: A New Accounting.

Abstract The professional literature is replete with theoretical examples explaining womens “lesser work commitment.” In this study of 208 accountants in one of the “big eight” international public accounting firms there were no significant differences between males and females on any of the components of work motivation measured. That is, women did not appear significantly different from men on any of the motivational variables, in the rewards they valued on the job, or on job characteristics they valued. In general, the “deficit theories” about women workers do not seem to apply to the women accountants under study.

Associational ties in academe: Some male and female differences

Although a growing body of empirical research has examined discriminatory policies and psychological barriers to ascent for women, it has virtually ignored structural barriers. Noticeably absent are data regarding the social organization of collegial ties. An analysis of the collegial-friend relationships among academicians in this study indicates that female professors, especially unmarried, have fewer males in their collegial-friend networks than men. Whether by choice or exclusion, it is suggested that isolation from these informal collegial contacts leaves women at a professional disadvantage.

Mothers’ and Their Adult Daughters’ Perceptions of Their Relationship

This qualitative study explores mother—adult daughter relationships through in-depth, individual interviews with 24 adult daughters and their mothers (N = 48). Using a life-course perspective, the authors examined the kinds of themes that emerged in each woman’s narrative and within each mother— daughter pair. Given the periods of adulthood under study, the authors expected and found themes reflecting complexity and ambivalence within the relationships. Themes related to intimacy and positive relationship qualities included generational continuity, closeness, emotional support, and family norms/values. Themes indicating autonomy and relationship difficulties— generational change, conflict, secrets, and maternal pressures—were also identified. Generational differences, as well as within-dyad divergence, were found most often in narratives about autonomy and relationship difficulties. The majority of mothers and daughters reevaluated their past relationship in light of their present ties. The place of narratives about adult family relationships in understanding the life course is emphasized.

The holocaust and sociological inquiry: a feminist analysis

The insights of feminist theory and methodology are used to explore ways in which some of the limitations of sociological study of the Holocaust might be overcome. It is argued that if feminist insights about limitations of sociological inquiry in general and of women, in particular, are made explicit it will be possible to study the Holocaust as other than solely a part of Jewish History and to move its study beyond a specialized niche within academia.The first section explores some of the explanations for the dearth of sociological inquiry about the Holocaust. The second borrows from feminist epistemological critiques of science to suggest how some of the current obstacles to the sociological study of the Holocaust might be overcome. The third section addresses the ways in which a gender analysis of the Holocaust leads to new ways of asking old questions. Version of paper given at annual meetings of the Association for Jewish Studies, Boston, December 1995.

Re-imaging/Imagining Pew’s Portrait of Orthodoxy

This chapter examines the lack of data on gender differences in the Pew Report. Without knowing more about gender differences and the ways women practice Orthodoxy, then Orthodoxy becomes identified primarily with the lives that men lead. If women remain invisible in their own right within Orthodoxy, they may receive less attention from community leaders and policy analysts.

Sliding to the Right: The Contest for the Future of American Jewish Orthodoxy

First of all, their claim about the relative invisibility of “meaning” in cultural theory is overstated. Jeffrey Alexander, Sarah Corse, Laura Grindstaff, John Hall, Elizabeth Long, Nina Eliasoph, Ron Eyerman, Eva Illouz, Andrea Press, Philip Smith, Lynn Spillman, Viviana Zelizer are only some of the many names who have vigorously put meaning at the center of the study of Culture. The urgent task that lay ahead of us is not to make meaning more central but rather to discuss how meanings should be studied: Where are they located, in texts or in practices or in the articulation between the two? Can meaning be measured and how? Do some meanings matter more than others? What is the articulation between collective and personal meaning? And finally, what is the relationship between pragmatics and semantics? Secondly, the authors call on overcoming the duality between materiality and culture but do not offer any concept that could usefully bridge between the two. The concept of “performativity” is such an example as it “interweaves meaning and action in a non-reductive way” (Alexander and Mast, 2004) If Friedland and Mohr want to do away with a dichotomy that has been, after all, highly fruitful and heuristic for the study of culture, they must offer us an alternative set of concepts and methods which is, unfortunately, still missing.

Identity TheoryIdentity Theory, by BurkePeter J.StetsJan E.New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009. 256pp.

Gender inequality remains both a pressing social issue and a fruitful area of social science research. This edited volume seeks to examine gender inequality and the production of well-being in Europe from an interdisciplinary perspective that is perhaps more feminist economics than sociology. The chapters draw on historical and contemporary European examples and offer a somewhat different take (both theoretically and methodologically) on what is usually found in American sociology journals. This book takes a broader view on gender inequalities and the production of wellbeing, with the ‘‘capability approach’’ serving as the theoretical connection between the chapters. The chapters reemphasize that social reproduction is more complex than the production of goods. The various authors also call for and (in the empirical chapters) take into account the socio-political and economic context. An entire chapter is dedicated to the introduction of the capability approach (Chapter Two). But the description of the theory remains lacking amidst numerous references that point the reader towards clarification elsewhere. The authors posit that well-being is an important outcome, and that the production of well-being itself needs to be included in the study of gender inequality (Chapter One), while also demanding that women are not just another vulnerable group (Chapter Four). Chapter Three further challenges conventional notions about the evolution of the ‘‘modern family’’ in the wake of the industrialization process, and argues that the fragility of families is not a novel concept. These theoretical chapters call for a more multidimensional assessment of gender inequality, and remind readers of the importance of the concept and production of well-being. The topics covered in the two empirical parts of the book are very diverse in terms of subject, methodology, and historical time period. The first empirical section ‘‘Gender Care and Work’’ is held together by the challenge to the idea of women as passive victims and in need of assistance. Chapter Five demonstrates widows’ relative economic independence in urban Sweden and Finland from 1890 to 1910, and Chapter Six shows the centrality of female relatives in caring for extended family members in times of crisis. Chapter Seven reaffirms the idea that intergenerational support is not one-sided, and those often thought of as needing care due to older age are also givers of care and other forms of support. The findings from the chapters emphasize the importance of non-monetary transfers outside the market system. The theme of caregiving is readdressed in later chapters which illustrate how home caregiving in Belgium is situated between the public/market divide (Chapter Nine) and the problems of combining market work with caregiving, especially for those in the ‘‘sandwich generation’’ (Chapter Ten). In a seeming departure from studies in the capability approach tradition, Chapter Eight is a more typical time-use study that examines the gender asymmetry in unpaid labor in Italy. The results are not novel as women are found to do more unpaid work, especially in couples with children. The second empirical part of the book focuses on the intra-household allocation of resources. Three of the five chapters in this section center primarily on the nineteenth century, examining consumption patterns in Spain (Chapter 11), gender differences in children’s schooling in Switzerland (Chapter 12), and the differences in the treatment of and opportunities for celibate men and women in the Pyrenees (Chapter 13). These chapters illustrate gender differences, but not in

24.95 paper. ISBN: 9780195388282.

Vol. 29, No. 1 ♦ 2010 nomic success and strong Jewish identity, a choice of an identity giving a sense of belonging to a community. As for willingness to return, women who have been successful both economically and socially are unwilling to return. In contrast, men who feel that they fulfilled their aspirations, have a high socioeconomic status, and are at least 50 years old are ready to commit themselves to return. Women and younger men still wish to fulfill expectations and continue to see the structure of opportunities in the U.S. as greater than in Israel. The wish to live near parents and the future of children’s identity influence the willingness of some to return, but that factor seems to affect women more than men. The author succeeds very well in showing the significance of gender relations throughout the whole migration process—leaving, integrating, and returning. Her major finding encapsulated in the book’s title, that immigration benefits men more than women, is amply demonstrated. Specialists will find a careful study in which the findings are abundantly related to or contrasted with previous research. For the general reader, the book is harder to absorb. It is badly written, with run-on sentences, missing words, sloppy style, and countless redundancies. It begs for a competent copy-editing hand, and it is a pity that it did not receive one. Suzanne Vromen Bard College