The Sociology of Knowledge Jewish and Muslim Impact on American Social Sciences

Abstract

The concept “sociology of knowledge” emerged from European sociology
and especially from Marxist thought which posited that the social
characteristics of a category of thinkers determine their intellectual products
as much or more than the intrinsic merit of their ideas themselves.’ while
Marxists, as materialists, naturally emphasized the effects of the social class
of their bourgeois and feudal opponents on the latter‘s thinking in order to discount
their arguments, the notion of social determinism can be equally well
applied to other categories of thinkers such as national, ethnic, or religious in
analyzing their impact on an academic discipline, provided that one is careful
not to assume a simplistic, one-to-one correlation between a thinker‘s social
background or religion and his ideas.
It is my purpose in this paper to explore the causes, degree, and possible
consequences of the disproportionate role of people of Jewish origin, if not
faith, in the development of the social sciences, particularly in the period
since World War II in North America, compared to the as yet meager impact
of Muslims in those fields. The powerful impact of Jewish scholars is not just
on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, which is well-known if controversial,
but, anterior to policy-making , they have largely shaped the paradigms,
the conceptual apparatus, with which most Westerners, approach, perceive,
and analyze society in general and the Muslim world in particular.
A cautionary note first is in order. Scholars who are by others or by
themselves designated as “Jewish” vary, like Muslims and Christians, from
the most orthodox to the most secualr, so one must avoid stereotyping and ...