The Political Sociology of the Australian Jewish Community
Department of Hebrew, Bible and Jewish Studies
People Involved
In 2003, Associate Professor Suzanne Rutland and Emeritus Professor Sol Encel were granted an Australian Research Council ARC/Linkage grant to research the political sociology of Australian Jewry over the next three years.
Associate Professor Suzanne Rutland and Emeritus Professor Sol Encel
This project will examine the internal dynamics of this community, its institutional structure, and responses to internal and external pressures, including terrorism. The study will analyse the interaction of the Jewish community with the broader Australian society, including the relations between the internalised norms of the community and the demands made by participation in a pluralist society. Primarily sociological and political in approach, the study also relies on historical sources. The project will develop an improved model for Jewish community leadership, which may be more widely applicable. The study is supported by three community linkage partners: the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Jewish Communal Appeal and Isi Leibler who has a unique, private archive in Jerusalem. It will involve research in archives in Australia, Jerusalem and New York and the undertaking of focus group interviews as well as interviews of leading figures in both the Jewish and general community.