Jerry Muller, Capitalism and the Jews

Monday, October 25
7:30 pm | Ina and Jack Kay Community Hall
Tickets: $11, Discounted Members/Seniors/Under 25 $9

Introduction by Professor Jenna Weissman Joselit, Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies, Professor of History and Director of the Program in Judaic Studies at The George Washington University.

The relationship of Jews to money is frequently the topic of speculation, humor and negative stereotypes. This relationship is so often associated with bigotry that systematic exploration of the topic is regularly treated as taboo or left to anti-Semitic ideologues. Beginning with historical links, Muller discusses the disproportionate success of Jews in capitalist economies, explores the most plausible explanations for this striking phenomenon and examines the remarkable range of Jewish responses to capitalism.

Jerry Z. Muller is professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. His previous books include The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Modern European Thought and Adam Smith in His Time and Ours. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, and the Times Literary Supplement, among other publications.

“Jerry Muller has written an indispensable book correcting myriad misperceptions about capitalism, the Jews, and the affinities between them.” —Ruth R. Wisse, Harvard University

“This book was hard to put down. It is a pleasure to read a work so provocative, so relevant, and so deeply informed.” —Daniel Chirot, University of Washington

Sponsored by Judith and Herbert Weintraub.

This program is co-sponsored by The American University Jewish Studies Program.

See the full line up at washingtondcjcc.org/litfest.