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For some time the conventional wisdom in the interdisciplinary field of Holocaust studies is that sociologists have neglected this subject matter, but this is not really the case. In fact, there has been substantial sociological work on the Holocaust, although this scholarship has often been ignored or neglected including in the discipline of sociology itself. Sociology and the Holocaust brings this scholarly tradition to light, and in doing so offers a comprehensive synthesis of the vast historical and social science literature on the before, during, and after of the Holocaust-a tour d'horizon from an explicitly sociological perspective. As such, the aim of the book is not simply to describe the chronology of events that culminated in the deaths of 6 million Jews but to draw upon sociology's "theoretical toolkit" to understand these events and the ongoing legacy of the Holocaust sociologically.
List of contents
Preface1 Personal and Professional RootsA Second Generation PerspectiveTerms of the InquiryThe Indifference of a Discipline2 On the Shoulders of GiantsSociologists of the 1930s and 1940sThe Trifocal Lens of Classical TheoryA General Theory and Case Study of Structure and Agency3 Antisemitism and Pseudoscientific RacismThe Development of Christian AntisemitismThe Confluence of Antisemitism and RacismNazi Eugenics and the Medicalization of Genocide4 The Class Composition and Economics of NazismNazi Party Membership and Election StudiesEconomic Exclusion, Aryanization, and Mass TheftNazi and Corporate Enterprises5 The Nazi State, Bureaucracy, and Response of the JewsThe Inner Circle of the Nazi StateNazi Cultural OrganizationsFrom the Nuremberg Laws to the Final SolutionGhettoization Open-Air Shootings and Concentration Camps6 The Response of the AlliesThe Prewar PeriodThe Wartime PeriodThe Immediate Postwar Period7 National Collective Memories of the HolocaustThe Federal Republic of GermanyIsraelThe United StatesPoland8 It Is Happening HereThe New AuthoritarianismThe Question of FascismThe White Power and Patriot MovementsThe Radicalization of the Republican PartyConcluding Reflections on Contemporary AntisemitismReferencesIndex
Summary
Sociology and the Holocaust offers a comprehensive synthesis of the vast historical and social science literature on the before, during, and after of the Holocaust. As such, the aim of the book is not simply to describe the chronology of events, but to understand these events and the ongoing legacy of the Holocaust sociologically.
Report
"Berger's work will play a significant role in any future investigation of the Holocaust from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Readers of this book will realize how lacking the new field of Holocaust Studies is without the contribution of sociology."
- Dr. Shay Pilnik, Director, Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Yeshiva University
"In the context of explaining the Holocaust, Berger attempts to bring sociology back in. He succeeds admirably by discussing the relevance of the sociological classical theorists Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. For example, he addresses Weber's thought on bureaucracy in the context of the organization of the Nazi killing apparatus. His analysis includes collective memory of the historical events and their victims - highly recommended."
- Lutz Kaelber, Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Vermont, Faculty Committee of the Carolyn and Leonard Miller Center for Holocaust Studies
