Goldberg’s Modernity and the Jews in Western Social Thought examines the central place of Jews within foundational social theory in Germany, France, and the United States. In this essay, I provide my take on Goldberg’s argument and provide some notes of appreciation for the better purchase it provided me on several authors’ positions. I also raise three interrelated points of discussion and critique, related to the relative weight given to the twin themes of modernity and belonging that framed social theorists’ understanding of Jews, the question of why it was Jews and not other groups in this central role, and the degree to which comparison to other groups is possible. I argue that giving more central place to the issue of solidarity helps to illuminate the dilemmas Jews were seen to raise, while also highlighting how Goldberg’s theoretical framework can help modern theorists to understand the position of other groups.

中文翻译：

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语境、比较和他者：论乍得·艾伦·戈德堡的现代性与西方社会思想中的犹太人

戈德堡的现代性与西方社会思想中的犹太人考察了犹太人在德国、法国和美国的基础社会理论中的中心地位。在这篇文章中，我提供了我对戈德堡论点的看法，并提供了一些感谢笔记，以感谢它为我提供了几位作者的立场。我还提出了三个相互关联的讨论和批评点，涉及现代性和归属感这两个主题的相对权重，这些主题构成了社会理论家对犹太人的理解，为什么是犹太人而不是其他群体在这个中心角色的问题，以及可以与其他组进行比较的程度。我认为，将团结问题放在更重要的位置有助于阐明犹太人所面临的困境，