Yuri Slezkine
Encyclopedia
Yuri Slezkine (b. 1956) is a professor of Russian history and Director of the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley
. He is best known as the author of the highly acclaimed book The Jewish Century (2004). Slezkine holds a PhD from the University of Texas, Austin.
He originally trained as an interpreter in Moscow State University
. His first trip outside the Soviet Union was in the late 1970s when he found work as a translator in Mozambique
. He returned to Moscow to serve as a translator of Portuguese
, and spent 1982 in Lisbon
before emigrating to Austin, Texas the next year.
He is currently a W. Glenn Campbell and Rita Ricardo-Campbell National Fellow at Stanford University
's Hoover Institution
.
ns, overseas Chinese
, and Gypsies) as a Mercurian
people "specializ[ing] exclusively in providing services to the surrounding food-producing societies," which he characterizes as Apollonian. With the exception of the Gypsies, these "Mercurian peoples" have all enjoyed great economic success relative to the average among their hosts, and have all, without exception, attracted hostility and resentment. Slezkine develops this thesis by arguing that the Jews, the most successful of these Mercurian peoples, have increasingly influenced the course and nature of Western societies, particularly during the early and middle periods of Soviet Communism
.
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He is best known as the author of the highly acclaimed book The Jewish Century (2004). Slezkine holds a PhD from the University of Texas, Austin.
He originally trained as an interpreter in Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
. His first trip outside the Soviet Union was in the late 1970s when he found work as a translator in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
. He returned to Moscow to serve as a translator of Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, and spent 1982 in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
before emigrating to Austin, Texas the next year.
He is currently a W. Glenn Campbell and Rita Ricardo-Campbell National Fellow at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
's Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
.
Slezkine's theory of ethnic identity
Slezkine characterizes the Jews (alongside such groups as the ArmeniaArmenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
ns, overseas Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and Gypsies) as a Mercurian
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
people "specializ[ing] exclusively in providing services to the surrounding food-producing societies," which he characterizes as Apollonian. With the exception of the Gypsies, these "Mercurian peoples" have all enjoyed great economic success relative to the average among their hosts, and have all, without exception, attracted hostility and resentment. Slezkine develops this thesis by arguing that the Jews, the most successful of these Mercurian peoples, have increasingly influenced the course and nature of Western societies, particularly during the early and middle periods of Soviet Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
Works
- The Jewish Century, Princeton University Press, 2004 (ISBN 0-691-11995-3)
- In the Shadow of the Revolution: Life Stories of Russian Women from 1917 to the Second World War, edited by Sheila Fitzpatrick and Yuri Slezkine, Princeton University Press, 2000
- Arctic Mirrors: Russia and the Small Peoples of the North, Cornell University Press, 1994
- The USSR as a Communal Apartment, or How a Socialist State Promoted Ethnic Particularism, Slavic ReviewSlavic ReviewSlavic Review is a leading international peer-reviewed academic journal publishing scholarly studies and book reviews in all disciplines concerned with Russia, Central Eurasia, and Eastern and Central Europe...
, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer 1994), 414-452 - Between Heaven and Hell: The Myth of Siberia in Russian Culture, 1993
See also
- Amy ChuaAmy ChuaAmy L. Chua is the John M. Duff, Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She joined the Yale faculty in 2001 after teaching at Duke Law School. Prior to starting her teaching career, she was a corporate law associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton...
, American writer on market dominant minorities - Model minorityModel minorityModel minority refers to a minority ethnic, racial, or religious group whose members achieve a higher degree of success than the population average. It is most commonly used to label one ethnic minority higher achieving than another ethnic minority...
- Dominant minorityDominant minorityA dominant minority, also known as alien elites if they are recent immigrants, is a group that has overwhelming political, economic or cultural dominance in a country or region despite representing a small fraction of the overall population...
- Dominant minority
External links
- Slezkine's website at Berkeley
- The Jewish Century, Chapter One: MERCURY'S SANDALS: THE JEWS AND OTHER NOMADS
- An interview with Yuri Slezkine discussing the theses of his book The Jewish Century
- The Chosen People: The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
's review of The Jewish Century by Daniel Lazare, November 30, 2005