The Jewish Dutch Elite in Transition

Patterns of Social Mobility and Integration, 1870-1940

Series: 

The Jewish Dutch Elite in Transition: Patterns of Social Mobility and Integration, 1870-1940 offers the first systematic, large-scale analysis of the upward social mobility and integration of Jewish members of the Dutch economic, political, and cultural elites. Considering the lives of over seven hundred individuals, the first two chapters study the domains of work, education, place of residence, religious affiliation, marriage, and association membership. The latter three chapters are case studies focusing on gender, spatial experience, and empire. This book is a significant contribution to the research on European Jewish history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, offering new insights into the varied modern Jewish experience from a Dutch perspective.
Copyright Year:
2026
E-Book (PDF)
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-76061-5
Publication:
29 Apr 2026
Hardback
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-76062-2
Publication:
28 May 2026
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Sietske van der Veen is a researcher and lecturer in modern Jewish history at the University of Amsterdam and review editor of the European Journal of Jewish Studies. She has published on Jewish elites, Jewish belonging, and spatial experiences of Jews.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables

Introduction
 1 Historical Background
 2 Theoretical and Historiographical Approach
 3 Methods and Sources
 4 Outline

1 Changing Trades
 1 Work in Transition
 2 Conforming to Tradition
 3 Venturing Out
 4 Other Ventures
 5 Conclusions: Novel Pursuits in a New Age

2 Vested Loyalties, Expanding Alliances
 1 In the Intellectual Forefront
 2 Seeking New Horizons
 3 Between Tradition and Secularisation
 4 Finding Love in Unfamiliar Places
 5 Building Bridges
 6 Facing Antisemitism
 7 Conclusions: Moving in Different Spheres

3 ‘A Double Burden’: Fighting for Women’s Rights
 1 Jewish Women in a Changing Society
 2 An Overrepresentation of Jewish Feminists
 3 The Lives of Jewish Feminists
 4 Conclusions: Jewish Feminists in the Forefront

4 Country Idylls, Hubs of Creativity, Places of Power
 1 Country Houses in the Netherlands
 2 Jewish Country Houses: a Transnational Phenomenon
 3 The Lives of Jewish Country House Owners
 4 Conclusions: Jewish Homes in the Country

5 ‘The Call of the East’: Entering the Imperial Space
 1 Jews in the Dutch East Indies
 2 The In-Between Position of Jews in the Indonesian Archipelago
 3 The Lives of Jewish ‘Indies Travellers’
 4 Conclusions: Jewish ‘Passing’ in the Dutch East Indies

Conclusion
 1 A Shifting Position in Society
 2 Novel Opportunities, Perpetual Barriers

Epilogue

Appendix 1: Lexicons in the Dutch Biography Portal

Appendix 2: Data Model Outline
Appendix 3: Index of Jews in the Dutch Biography Portal
Bibliography
Index
The primary readership will consist of scholars and students. Its wide scope also makes it interesting for a broader audience, particularly non-Dutch readers interested in the modern Dutch Jewish experience.
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Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
x, 326 pp.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004760615

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