Original Wraps. 8vo. 91 pages. 20 cm. First edition. In German. 'The Future of the Jews. ' A controversial work on the economic position of diaspora Jewry. Werner Sombart (18631941) , German political economist and sociologist. Born in Ermsleben, Sombart acquired a reputation through his work Der Moderne Kapitalismus (2 vols. , 1902, 1916) in which he traced the development of capitalism from the late Middle Ages. In 1917 he was appointed professor of political economy at the University of Berlin. He wrote two works on capitalism and the Jews: Die Juden und das Wirtschaftsleben (1911; The Jews and Modern Capitalism, 1913, 1951) , and Die Zukunft der Juden (1912) which aroused considerable controversy. In Sombart's view, the Jews were the principal cause of the disruption of the medieval economic system and its replacement by capitalism. The Jews, he held, were foreigners and came up against the hostility of the guilds which controlled the commerce of the medieval cities. Consequently they sought to break away from the restrictive economic framework of city life and, by doing so, became the pioneers of international trade. In this way they helped to lay the foundation of the capitalist system. Sombart maintained that the Jewish intellect, 'concrete, stubborn, and systematic, ' was ideally suited to fostering a capitalist economy: 'When Israel appears upon the face of Europe, the place where it appears comes to life; and when it departs, everything which had previously flourished withers away. ' Such statements made for the ambivalent reception of Sombart's work among Jews at the time. Thus, while liberal Jews strongly criticized Sombart as an antisemite, others, particularly in the Zionist camp, praised him as a nonpartisan researcher and held up his theses as evidence of Jewish perseverance and as acknowledgement of the special contribution of the Jews. - EJ 2008. Subjects: Civilization - Jewish influences. Jews - Germany - Social conditions. Civilization - Jewish influences. Ethnic relations. Jews - Social conditions. Germany - Ethnic relations. Wraps bumped, slightly torn along backstrip, light soiling to outer edges, otherwise clean and fresh. Very good condition. (GER-43-41)
