On the Jewish Century

This is a fascinating work. I have no idea what discipline I would consider it. Essentially, Slezkine’s argument is that the world is divided into “Mercurians” and “Apollonians.” Apollonians are the native people of a land, often coming from traditional societies rooted in agriculture and kinship. Mercurians are those who don’t fit in because they aren’t a part of the larger society, so they don’t own land. Instead, they are defined by things like education (mental capital that nobody can “own”) and trade (or the exchanging of property between others), as well as movement. If we were to look at Ottoman Turkey, Turks would be the Apollonians and Armenians would be Mercurians. In nineteenth and twentieth century West Africa, black Africans are the Apollonians and Lebanese are the Mercurians. In Southeast Asia, the Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Malay, etc. are Apollonians, whereas Chinese are Mercurians.

However, with modernity the world has shifted dramatically. Now, landownership is no longer the defining feature of success. Instead, high education, transience, and other forms of capital are signifiers of success. Somehow, groups like Jews, Armenians, Chinese, and Lebanese are over-represented in high positions. Slezkine argues that this is not due to discrimination, favoritism, or global conspiracy, but due to a global structural shift in what is valued. With the loss of importance of agriculture, those who had time to cultivate other pursuits over generations were particularly well placed to rise in the modern world. Moreover, the rest of us in the developed world are abandoning our “Apollonianism” and becoming more like Mercurians. In Slezkine’s opinion, everyone is becoming Jewish.

Undoubtedly Jews have historically relied on these activities (landownership was banned for Jews for centuries, for example), but at times it appears to me that Slezkine relies on stereotypes, assuming that Jews are unable to be Apollonians (even if this is a result of structural factors). Is this true? I don’t know. But, I do think Slezkine is convincing in his overarching analyses of Apollonianism and Mercurianism (even if these categories are too generalized) and their role in the modern world.