Book description
Outwardly it would appear that Arab and Jewish immigrants comprise
two distinct groups with differing cultural backgrounds and an
adversarial relationship. Yet, as immigrants who have settled in
communities at a distance from metropolitan areas, both must negotiate
complex identities. Growing up in Kentucky as the granddaughter of
Jewish immigrants, Nora Rose Moosnick observed this traditionally
mismatched pairing firsthand, finding that, Arab and Jewish immigrants
have been brought together by their shared otherness and shared fears.
Even more intriguing to Moosnick was the key role played by immigrant
women of both cultures in family businesses -- a similarity which
brings the two groups close together as they try to balance the
demands of integration into American society.
In Arab and Jewish Women in Kentucky: Stories of Audacity and
Accomodation, Moosnick reveals how Jewish and Arab women have
navigated the intersection of tradition, assimilation, and Kentucky's
cultural landscape. The stories of ten women's experiences as
immigrants or the children of immigrants join around common themes of
public service to their communities, intergenerational relationships,
running small businesses, and the difficulties of juggling family and
work. Together, their compelling narratives challenge misconceptions
and overcome the invisibility of Arabs and Jews in out of the way
places in America.
""Moosnick weaves together a refreshing blend of life
stories and follows a captivating group of Arab and Jewish women
through a narrative negotiation between tradition, assimilation, and
Kentucky's cultural landscape." -- Douglas A. Boyd, author of
Crawfish Bottom: Recovering a Lost Kentucky Community" --
Nora Rose Moosnick is a visiting scholar in the department of
sociology at the University of Kentucky. She is the author of Adopting
Maternity: White Women Who Adopt Transracially or Transnationally and
lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
