A History of Argentine Jewish Women, 1880-1955

FAIN: HR-50119-05

Sandra M. Deutsch
University of Texas, El Paso (El Paso, TX 79968-8900)

Jewish women played crucial roles in Argentina and its sizable Jewish community, the largest in Latin America and third largest in the hemisphere. This project examines their contributions, the extent to which they attained acceptance and upward mobility, the identities they formed, and how they claimed Argentina as their own. It concludes that they were both insiders and outsiders. This will be the first book-length history of immigrant women and their descendants in Latin America and of Jewish women in the region. Putting women at the center reveals issues of critical importance for Jews and other immigrants, such as education, philanthropy, and sexuality. My research also contributes to Argentine political history. It highlights the vitality of grassroots leftist politics after 1930, an issue ignored in the literature, and it shows that 20th century nationalism was not as exclusionary as previously suggested. Finally, the book provides a case study of women's participation in the construction of nations and national identities.

Associated Products

Crossing Borders, Claiming a Nation: A History of Argentine Jewish Women, 1880-1955 (Book)
Title: Crossing Borders, Claiming a Nation: A History of Argentine Jewish Women, 1880-1955
Author: Sandra McGee Deutsch
Editor: none
Abstract: This book explains the interaction of Argentine Jewish women, as insiders and outsiders, with f state formation, transnationalism, and cultural, political, ethnic, and gender borders. As agricultural pioneers and film stars, teachers and human rights activists, mothers and physicians, Argentine Jewish women led wide-ranging and multifaceted lives. Their involvement in their communities and society, including building libraries, philanthropies, and secular schools, as well as opposing fascism in the 1930s and 1940s, contributed to a changing Argentina. Despite their marginalization as women and members of an ethnic minority, Argentine Jewish women formed communal bonds, carved out their own spaces, tried to create a more just social order, and helped shape the nation's pluralistic culture.
Year: 2010
Publisher: Duke University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978-0-8223-464
Translator: none
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

Prizes

LAJSA Book Award
Date: 6/25/2011
Organization: Latin American Studies Association
Abstract: Best book on Latin American Jewish Studies published between 2008 and 2010.

"Changing the Landscape: The Study of Argentine Jewish Women and New Historical Vistas" (Article)
Title: "Changing the Landscape: The Study of Argentine Jewish Women and New Historical Vistas"
Author: Sandra McGee Deutsch
Abstract: Putting women and their concerns at the center of our inquiry changes the landscape. The daily routines and education of Eastern European women in the farming communities; Zionism and philanthropy among Eastern European and Mediterranean women; and the participation of Eastern European women in the Communist Party and the Junta de la Victoria in Argentina illustrate this point well. Placing these examples at the center changes the landscape of the history of Argentina, Jewish Argentines, and Argentine women both metaphorically and spacially.
Year: 2008
Format: Other
Periodical Title: Rethinking Jewish Latin Americans, ed. Jeffrey Lesser and Raanan Rein
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press

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