Lila Corwin Berman, "Who Is American? Belonging and the Question of Jewish Citizenship" (Princeton UP, 2026)
About this episode
Lila Corwin Berman discusses the complexities of Jewish citizenship in the United States and its implications for identity and legal rights.
The history of Jews in the United States is often told as if they immigrated, gained citizenship, and almost immediately achieved full legal rights. Yet this story fundamentally misses how citizenship rights worked for Jews and countless others who arrived on American shores. In Who Is American? Belonging and the Question of Jewish Citizenship, Lila Corwin Berman draws on case law, statutes, and debates to argue that both the laws of American citizenship and Jews’ position in them changed repeatedly across the twentieth century. Courts, policymakers, and the public persistently asked what it meant to be Jewish under the law. Were Jews a race, a nationality, a religion—or some combination of each? The answer carried profound legal consequences. Not only did it determine Jews’ citizenship status, but it also affected the rights they could exercise. Just as significantly, the meaning of the categories under law changed over time, affecting Jews’ self-understanding, their political ideals, and their relationships to other groups of Americans.Who Is American? tells a history that resonates powerfully with today’s high-stakes battles over citizenship and rights. As Berman concludes…
People in this episode
Guest: Lila Corwin Berman
Topics covered
- Jewish citizenship
- American history
- legal rights
- immigration
- identity
- citizenship law
Keywords
- Jewish citizenship
- American history
- legal rights
- immigration
- citizenship law
- identity
- race
- nationality
- religion
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Princeton UP
Books & works: Who Is American? Belonging and the Question of Jewish Citizenship
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