Modernity and the Jews in Western Social Thought investigates how Jews became an important cultural reference point for defining modernity and national identity in French, German, and American sociology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main contribution is to show that the historical opposition between Jews and gentiles served as a basis and background condition for the production of the traditional/modern binary. The book situates the production of this binary in its social and historical milieux, an important aspect of which was antisemitic and nativist opposition to the civil incorporation of Jews as an ethno-religious minority. The book’s conclusion draws on Claude Lévi-Strauss’s analysis of totemism to explain why Jews were ‘good to think’ and signified such varied and inconsistent meanings, it relates the book’s historical findings to contemporary discourse about Muslims, and it suggests a rethinking of previous scholarship on Orientalism, Occidentalism, and European perceptions of America. With this wide-ranging scope, the book is bound to raise questions and provoke debate. This symposium is based on author-meets-critics sessions that took place in the United States at meetings of the Eastern Sociological Society and the Midwest Sociological Society in 2018. After the meetings, several of the participants in those sessions – Peter Kivisto, Angel Adams Parham, Joseph Gerteis, Fuyuki Kurasawa, and I – agreed to turn our oral presentations into articles for this special review symposium. We are grateful to the editors of the Journal of Classical Sociology for devoting space to it.

中文翻译：

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座谈会介绍

现代性与西方社会思想中的犹太人研究在19世纪末20世纪初，犹太人如何成为定义法国，德国和美国社会学中的现代性和民族认同的重要文化参考点。它的主要作用是表明犹太人和外邦人之间的历史对立是生产传统/现代二元法的基础和背景条件。该书将这种二进制文件的产生置于其社会和历史环境中，其中一个重要方面是反对犹太人和纳粹主义者反对将犹太人作为具有民族宗教信仰的少数群体的民间组织。该书的结论借鉴了克劳德·列维·斯特劳斯（ClaudeLévi-Strauss）对图腾主义的分析，以解释犹太人为何“善于思考”并表明了如此多样且前后不一致的含义，并将该书的历史发现与当代有关穆斯林的论述相关联，它暗示了对以前关于东方主义，西方主义和欧洲对美国的看法的学术研究的重新思考。在如此广泛的范围内，这本书必定会引发问题并引起辩论。本次研讨会基于2018年在美国东部社会学学会和中西部社会学学会的会议上举行的作者会议与批评会议。这些会议之后，这些会议的几位参与者– Peter Kivisto，Angel Adams我和Parham，Joseph Gerteis，Fuyuki Kurasawa以及我–同意将我们的口头报告变成本次特别研讨会的文章。我们感谢《每日邮报》的编辑 这本书注定会引发问题并引起辩论。本次研讨会基于2018年在美国东部社会学学会和中西部社会学学会的会议上举行的作者会议与批评会议。这些会议之后，这些会议的几位参与者– Peter Kivisto，Angel Adams我和Parham，Joseph Gerteis，Fuyuki Kurasawa以及我–同意将我们的口头报告变成本次特别研讨会的文章。我们感谢《每日邮报》的编辑 这本书注定会引发问题并引起辩论。本次研讨会基于2018年在美国东部社会学学会和中西部社会学学会的会议上举行的作者会议与批评会议。这些会议之后，这些会议的几位参与者– Peter Kivisto，Angel Adams我和Parham，Joseph Gerteis，Fuyuki Kurasawa以及我–同意将我们的口头报告变成本次特别研讨会的文章。我们感谢《每日邮报》的编辑 我–同意将我们的口头演讲变成本次特别研讨会的文章。我们感谢《每日邮报》的编辑 我–同意将我们的口头演讲变成本次特别研讨会的文章。我们感谢《每日邮报》的编辑《古典社会学杂志》为此投入了篇幅。