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Urban Exodus : Why the Jews Left Boston and the Catholics Stayed
Urban Exodus Why the Jews Left Boston and the Catholics Stayed Author:Gerald Gamm Winner of the 2000 Robert Park Award from the American Sociological Association for the Best Book in Urban Sociology In telling the story of why the Jews left Boston's urban areas while the Catholics stayed, Gerald Gamm places neighborhood institutions—churches, synagogues, community centers, schools—at its center. He challenges t... more »he long-held assumption that bankers and real estate agents were responsible for the rapid Jewish exodus. Rather, according to Gamm, basic institutional rules explain the strength of Catholic attachments to neighborhood and the weakness of Jewish attachments. "Gerald Gamm uses census data, parish and synagogue records and contemporary newspaper accounts to demonstrate both that Boston's urban crisis began decades before race was a factor, and that Jews and Catholics reacted differently because their religious life was governed by entirely different rules … To [a] class analysis of urban change Gamm adds the significant dimension of religion." —Mark Silk, New York Times Book Review "This thoroughly reported and elegantly written book surely is the best interpretation of Boston politics since J. Anthony Lukas's Common Ground." —David Warsh, Boston Globe« less