2_TheGhetto_Wirth

Question 1

What is a modern ghetto (by this paper’s 1927 American definition)?

Answer 1

Arisen out of medieval European segregation, the modern ghetto is a location and structure determined by the unique status of being Jewish and holding Jewish traditions, and a characteristic where Jewish people repeatedly settle together in the west in a defacto manner.

(p.57-58)

Question 2

Why is the modern jewish ghetto (of Western Europe and America) of interest to sociologists?

Answer 2

• It represents a prolonged case study in isolation
• it shows the actual process of distribution and grouping of the population in urban communities
• it shows how communities show their heritage when transplanted
• it demonstrates the subtle ways in which this cultural community is transformed by degrees until it blends with the larger community around it

(p.58)

Question 3

Original causes of self-segregation in medieval Europe

Answer 3

• easier to practice their traditions and customs (religious rites, diet, etc.)
• to have company of their own population / kinship and acquaintanceship
• possible purposes of revenue/control by their leader(s)
• common language
• avoid intolerance of their differences from the majority

(p.59-60)

Question 4

How did Jewish groups supplement the economy of their towns which were mostly Christian?

Answer 4

• Jews were allowed to trade and engage in exchange, which Christians weren’t permitted in
• Jews paid tax and helped furnish revenue

Question 5

How did Jewish groups find utility in their neighbouring Christian populations?

Answer 5

• Christians could perform tasks which Jews were not permitted to do
• Christians could buy the hind quarters of beef
• Christians could buy Jewish commodities
• Christians could borrow money from Jewish people and pay interest

(p.60)

Question 6

What is the difference between the Jews of Easter Europe and the Jews of Western Europe?

Answer 6

“While the Jews of the East lived in large part in rural communities, in village world, those of the West were predominantly a city people, in touch at least for some time with the pulsating intellectual life of the world.”

(p.64)

Question 7

Where have Jewish communities settled in Chicago (as of this 1927 paper)?

Answer 7

West side

(not in the paper, but in modern day, it’s more the North side jsyk. The west side of Chicago is now mostly hispanic)

(p.68)

Question 8

What happened when Jewish people settled Lawndale?

Answer 8

“In their attempt to flee from the ghetto, the partially assimilated Jews have found that the ghetto has followed them, and a new exodus sets in. The plans of those who fled from the ghetto in order to obtain status as human beings–as successful business or professional men, rather than as Jews–have been frustrated by the similar plans of others.”

“As the area becomes predominantly Jewish, the non-Jewish settlers move, and the Jews begin the pursuit anew.”

(p.70)