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JPR Publications
JPR disseminates its research through high quality,
accessible reports, policy papers and books. These cover issues affecting Jewish
life worldwide and are written by JPR staff, leading academics, researchers,
writers and journalists. All JPR
publications are available for purchase from JPR in hard copy.
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Publications
Jews and Other Europeans - Old and New
Published: Tuesday 3 Jun 2008
Author(s): Profesor Zygmunt Bauman
The great European project of nation-building was meant to end in a Europe of unified nation-states, each with its own language, history, traditions and a people undivided in its loyalty. The local or ‘merely ethnic’ communities would be effaced, subsumed into the homogeneous nation. Assimilation was the means whereby outsiders would become insiders, strangers would become citizens.
The Second World War, and the Holocaust, brought this project to its tragic and murderous end, laying bare the contradiction at its heart. Outsiders could not be assimilated since their loyalty was, by definition, always voluntary and therefore always seen as untrustworthy. As the historical epitome of the European outsider, Jews accordingly remained suspect despite all their ingenious efforts to assimilate. They experienced first-hand the ambivalence of the assimilatory drive, which was, from their point of view, to become like everyone else, and, from their hosts’ point of view, to deepen belonging by emphasizing difference.
To read about the lecture Professor Bauman gave in December 2007, click
here.
Is Europe good for the Jews? Jews and the pluralist tradition in historical perspective
Published: Tuesday 22 Apr 2008
Author(s): Dr Steven Beller
Over the past few years there has been a growing trend within Jewish communities to raise the alarm about Europe and the rise of the ‘new antisemitism’. A range of phenomena, from an increase in attacks on Jewish individuals and institutional buildings to a perceived anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian bias has led to the notion that Europe is no longer so good for the Jews.
In his paper, Steven Beller argues that the impulse to sound the alarm is misplaced, especially when aimed at ‘Europe’ itself. Modern-day Europe and the emerging institutions of the European Union are very good for the Jews. Indeed the EU was born and continues to develop in the great European tradition of pluralism that Jews have done so much to foster. Dr Beller believes the way forward lies in the recognition of the need for mutual respect and co-existence among Europe’s many cultures and communities, including Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Sacralization by stealth
Published: Monday 2 Jul 2007
Author(s): Dr Eric Kaufmann
What are the political implications of differences in growth rates between secular and religious populations in western Europe? Dr Kaufmann’s paper claims that demographic factors can lead to a reversal of the secularisation process and to growing religiosity in society even if religious apostates outnumber converts.
The secular population of western Europe might grow through defection from the religious population and from the minority of immigrants who are secular. But the main engines of religious population growth in western Europe are more powerful: religious immigrants and higher fertility. Native-born west Europeans who declare themselves ‘religious’ form about half the adult population in six north-western European countries studied by the author.
Read more
Jews in Britain: A Snapshot from the 2001 Census
Published: Friday 18 May 2007
Author(s): David Graham, Marlena Schmool, Stanley Waterman
The challenges for the community to grasp
In May JPR launched Jews in Britain: A Snapshot from the 2001 Census, which was given extensive coverage in the national and international media and the Jewish press. It laid bare the complexity of the Jewish population and demolished several popular myths: ‘the Jewish nuclear family, the homogenous Jewish household, the Jewish housewife, the married Jewish couple or the universally successful and prosperous citizen.’
Over 120 pages long, the report covers a wide range of subjects, including the nature of Jewish partnerships, intermarriage, living standards, social inequality, ethnicity, educational standards and many other demographic issues. ‘Our understanding of the British Jewish population has been revolutionized’, concluded the authors of JPR's comprehensive analysis of the data on Jews derived from answers to the first ever voluntary question on religion in the 2001 Census. ‘The results have been truly fascinating and mould-breaking.’
A debate has now been started which, JPR hopes, will provoke an extensive and much-needed examination into the nature of the Jewish community in Britain and its future needs.
The report was launched at two well-attended seminars held on consecutive days at JPR: the first, intended for Jewish community professionals and lay leaders, was attended by representatives from a wide range of communal organisations, including the UJIA, Jewish Care, Interlink Foundation, Assembly of Masorti Synagogues, Norwood, League of Jewish Women, Board of Deputies, Nightingale House, Sephardi Welfare Board and Agudas Israel Housing Association. The second seminar was intended for demographers and academics and participants came from Oxford University, the LSE, National Centre for Social Research, Greater London Authority, Royal Holloway College and the Cohesion and Faith Unit.
All three authors of the report, David Graham, Marlena Schmool and Stanley Waterman, were on hand to present the findings and discuss the policy implications, together with JPR Director Tony Lerman.
Report authors Stanley Waterman, Marlena Schmool and David Graham
To highlight a few interesting findings presented in the report:
- 36% of Jews live alone in England and Wales, therefore households containing married couples with children are no longer the norm.
- About three quarters of Jews are in-married.
- Men are slightly more likely than women to have a non-Jewish spouse or partner.
- In Tower Hamlets, 68.3% of Jews do not own a car.
- Jews are more likely to be self-employed than non-Jews.
- 17.5% of all British Jews live in Barnet.
- 47% of Jews in Hackney are economically inactive.
- Over a quarter of babies are now born into the strictly Orthodox community.
JPR Chairman, Peter Levy OBE, challenged the Jewish community professionals and lay leaders to ensure that this data is put to good use in planning for the future and to give careful consideration to the policy implications for the Jewish community.
He warned that since the Jewish community was not homogeneous, adhering to a narrow definition of community meant that significant numbers of self-defining Jews were abandoned. He recommended the adoption of a broader idea of the community. ‘Was it not time for us to take a mature look at what is happening in Jewish partnerships? We should integrate the “new Jewish family” into our thinking.’ Peter Levy said that the report posed a complex challenge for Jewish planners and that everything should be re-thought in light of this new data. Looking ahead to the 2011 census, he also highlighted the need for continued detailed independent research.
The communal professionals generally agreed that before 2011, more should be done to encourage members of the Jewish community to fill out the voluntary question on religion. It was feared that the poor response rate, particularly in some strictly Orthodox areas where residents ignored the voluntary question on the advice of their religious leaders, had resulted in a serious undercount which might have funding implications for the future.
Marlena Schmool said that demographic figures alone were not sufficient in a changing world. Attitudinal research was also required which could show us how people live their lives and make their choices. There was no longer merely one kind of Jewish answer. She called for consolidated Jewish leadership relating to research and planning. Since an increasing number of Jews no longer felt part of the Jewish community, the numbers were shrinking. She warned that the Jewish community could no longer afford to compartmentalize the way its services were provided, for example in Jewish education, where there is often no strategic thinking before a new school is opened. A leadership that prevents compartmentalization was therefore a top priority.
David Graham said he would like to see ‘Jewish’ listed as an ethnic category choice in the 2011 census. He also explained that the different wording employed by the Scottish census in their questions about religion had thrown up fascinating data. By asking respondents to list their current religion as well as their religion of upbringing, the census revealed that nearly a quarter of respondents considered themselves to be ‘lost’ to Judaism.
Declining community
Marlena explained that the death rate amongst British Jews was higher than the birth rate. Any Jewish community abroad which had grown in numbers had done so as a result of the influx of Russian immigrants, but as the UK did not receive many Russian Jews, there was less potential for growth here. Since the 1950s principally Jews from the United States, South Africa and Israel had been attracted to the UK. Meanwhile, more younger people in the future would be excluded from the statistics either because they did not identify themselves as Jews or were only partially Jewish.
Tony Lerman said the report tells us to open out our thinking about the Jewish community, which is very variegated with very varied needs. He recommended that we must look at different segments and explore their specific needs. He also pointed out that the report proved the lie to Bernard Wasserstein’s predictions that there would be no Jews left in Europe by 2050.
Participants at the seminar for demographers and academics were more concerned with wider issues, such as where the Jewish community started and ended? Who do we include or exclude? They were impressed with the fact that this set of data makes the British Jewish population the best analysed in Europe.
Representatives of other minority groups who were present at the seminar expressed an interest in replicating this pioneering study within their own ethnic or religious communities. Linda Bellos pointed out that similar issues are frequently debated in the Sikh, black and Asian communities.
Stanley Waterman warned that the Jewish community had difficult decisions to make in the light of the realisation that it is an ageing population and that its younger people do not contribute to the wellbeing of the community.
David Graham regretted that all the headlines about the report in the media had focused on the data on intermarriage and assimilation. Where were all the headings about non-marriage, birth rate and divorce and re-marriage rates, he asked? The wider society was changing fast, just as the Jewish population was, but these changes went unrecognised in the search for sensationalism.
read the press release
Older publications
Hate Crimes against London’s Jews
Paul Iganski, Vicky Kielinger, Susan Paterson (Monday 4 Jul 2005)
The Jewish Day School Marketplace: The attitudes of Jewish parents in General London and the South-east towards formal education
Dr Oliver Valins (Wednesday 31 Dec 2003)
Creating community and accumulating social capital: Jews associating with other Jews in Manchester
Ernest Schlesinger (Wednesday 31 Dec 2003)
Long-term planning for British Jewry: final report and recommendations
JPR (Monday 1 Dec 2003)
A Portrait of Jews in London and the South-East: a community study
(Thursday 8 May 2003)
The future of Jewish schooling in the United Kingdom
Oliver Valins, Barry Kosmin and Jacqueline Goldberg (Tuesday 31 Dec 2002)
Facing the future: the provision of long-term care facilities for older Jewish people in the United Kingdom
Dr Oliver Valins (Tuesday 31 Dec 2002)
The Hate Debate
Paul Iganski (Wednesday 25 Dec 2002)
A Community of Communities: Report of the Commission on Representation of the Interests of the British Jewish Community
Commission on Representation of the Interests of the British Jewish Community (Friday 31 Mar 2000)
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