Stranger communities and ''Sweetheart Dances''

Journal/Book: Anthropos. 1998; 93: Editions St-Paul, Perolles 42, CH-1700 Fibourg, Switzerland. Anthropos Inst. 77-88.

Abstract: Puzzling to a newly arrived teenager in the Jewish community in a small town in the American South were the economic breaks given by community members to one another and the focus by community youth clubs - supposedly dedicated to public service - on an unending round of weekend ''Sweetheart Dances.'' An attempt to understand the community begins with its economic niche and its regional kinship network (with a resulting need for endogamy) - which contrasts with the very different niche and pattern of kin relations of most other residents of the town and its hinterland. From this perspective other similar communities - encountered in the local region, in literature, and in later fieldwork - are considered. An understanding of this set of experiences and insights is offered that is rooted in theoretical work regarding stranger communities, middleman minorities, and central places.

Note: Article Kronenfeld DB, Univ Calif Riverside, Dept Anthropol, Riverside,CA 92521 USA

Keyword(s): stranger communities; central place theory; middleman minorities; Jewish communities; kinship networks

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