Gendered power dynamics among religious sects, ethnic groups, and classes, in jewish communities on greater boston's landscape at the turn of the Century

Abstract

This chapter analyzes changing gendered power dynamics during the diaspora of Jewish communities as they moved across Greater Boston's landscape. Gender power dynamics are analyzed from a feminist perspective focusing on the social agency of Jewish women and men in developing Jewish-American identities by selectively adopting, adapting, and integrating aspects of the dominant American gender ideology and material culture into a Jewish culture that has retained its distinctiveness. This analysis uses my feminist inclusive model of a diversity of fluid powers, moving between relational categories of hierarchical dominating powers over others that control and limit actions; powers under others, ranging from compliance to resistance; heterarchical powers with others, ranging from inspiring and empowering to collaborating with others; and social agency powers to retain or change cultural ideologies, identities, practices, and gendered power dynamics. © 2010 Springer-Verlag New York.