The Diaspora may be moving, but it isn’t going away any time soon

By Joel Kotkin
Published on November 10, 2006

The changes in the Diaspora community.

‘Little Flower’ Could Help Antonio Bloom

By Joel Kotkin
Published on May 26, 2005

I imagine you are enjoying the hoopla surrounding your election. As the first Latino chief executive in more than 130 years, it may be tempting to bask in the warmth of a great ethnic triumph.

But don't enjoy it too much. Los Angeles does not need a symbol or an icon; it needs a mayor, one who can be both decisive and effective. We need less rah-rah and more Fiorello La Guardia.

Q & A With Joel Kotkin

By Marc Ballon
Published on May 5, 2005

Cities are “humankind’s greatest creation,” asserts Joel Kotkin in his new book, “The City: A Global History” (Modern Library). A contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion section and contributing writer for this paper, Kotkin traces the rise of urban centers from Mesopotamia to Byzantium and the cities of the Middle East; from the rise of Venice and other commercial centers to the suburban sprawl of Los Angeles.

GOP Missing Chance to Attract Jews

By Joel Kotkin
Published on July 24, 2003

An Israeli diplomat once remarked famously that the Palestinians "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity" to make peace. Much the same, it appears, is true in the efforts of the Republican Party, particularly here in California, to reach out to the Jewish community.

When Shepherds Desert Their Flocks

By Joel Kotkin
Published on October 31, 2002

The conflict over Valley secession reflects the growing gap between rabbis and the actual reality their flocks experience.

The Christian Right, Conservatism and the Jews

By Joel Kotkin
Published on June 6, 2002

For generations, Jews have viewed religious conservatives with a combination of fear and disdain. Yet the recent events in the Middle East -- and the steadfast support given Israel by religious conservatives -- has gone a long way to correcting many often exaggerated, if not misplaced, assumptions about this large, and politically significant, group.

Breaking the Media Monopoly

By Joel Kotkin
Published on May 16, 2002

Jews aren't the only Angelenos dissatisfied with the Los Angeles Times. Indeed, for the first time in a generation, that dissatisfaction may actually produce something akin to competition for the most dominant newspaper west of Chicago.

Ten Years After: The Jews Remain

By Joel Kotkin
Published on April 25, 2002

Recent events in the Middle East have been enough to make anyone pessimistic about the future of ethnic relations. But the situation here in Los Angeles -- 10 years after the disastrous riots of April 1992 -- gives some hope that racial reconciliation still has a future.

Religion, Rabbis and Reform

By Joel Kotkin
Published on February 28, 2002

The San Fernando Valley secession movement faces almost total opposition from Los Angeles' political, civic, academic and media establishments. But over the coming weeks, it is likely to be taking flak from the city's religious elite, too.

The L.A. Image

By Joel Kotkin
Published on January 17, 2002

The best thing about David Lehrer's firing as head of the local Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has been the local reaction, which has done more to awaken Los Angeles' Jewish leadership than anything in recent memory. The worst thing about Lehrer's firing: That the ADL's New York leadership thought it could get away with it, and, sadly, it probably will.

A New World View

By Joel Kotkin
Published on September 20, 2001

Much of what has been said about the twin disasters in New York and Washington, D.C, last week holds validity. Spiritual revival, national unity and steely resolve are all, in themselves, excellent responses to the recent disturbances.

New Vistas

By Dennis Gura
Published on November 29, 1999

"The New Geography: How the Digital Revolution Is Reshaping the American Landscape," by Joel Kotkin. (Random House, $22.95)

Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow at both Pepperdine University Institute for Public Policy and Milken Institute and a research fellow at the libertarian Reason Public Policy Institute, for 20 years has been researching and writing about what he terms "intangible" inputs into economic life.

Linking Up Our Community

By Joel Kotkin
Published on November 19, 1998

For much of their history, Jews have been the masters of networking. Even before the destruction of the Second Temple, far-flung Jewish communities, usually through itinerant traders traveling precariously across the Mediterranean and land routes, maintained sophisticated communications networks with each other in a diaspora that extended from Palestine to Spain, in the West, and Persia, in the East.

Opinion

By Joel Kotkin
Published on August 27, 1998

Arthur Hertzberg, arguably one of America's most prominent rabbis and Jewish intellectuals, has been a familiar guest at every White House since Lyndon Johnson. Yet this lifelong Democrat and former president of the liberal American Jewish Congress, has refused to enter the inner sanctum of the White House -- he did attend the lawnside ceremony for the Middle East peace accords -- since Bill Clinton became president.

Cover Story

By Joel Kotkin
Published on June 18, 1998

The recent revelations about the South OrangeCounty Community College District's desire to offer a course that, inpart, blames the Mossad and the Anti-Defamation League for theassassination of President John F. Kennedy read something like a badclipping from the area's far-right past.

The Racialization of

By Joel Kotkin
Published on May 7, 1998

Last week, President Clinton diverted himself from fending off scandal and defaming his accusers to denounce the Unzinitiative, Proposition 227, which is designed to end the currentsystem of bilingual education. In the process, he may have contributed to the growing, and potentially debilitating, racialization of Los Angeles' political scene.

L.A.‘s Ultimate Power Broker

By Joel Kotkin
Published on December 11, 1997

For most of this century, Los Angeles has been a city of two elites -- one predominately WASPish, the other predominately Jewish. Although they occasionally collaborated on projects such as the MusicCenter, the two worlds remained largely separate and indifferent to each other, living in a ruling-class version of institutional apartheid.

A Stitch in Time May Save Jobs

By Joel Kotkin
Published on November 6, 1997

For generations of my own family, and many Jewish families, thegarment industry long has been a source of employment andentrepreneurial opportunity. Yet, in recent weeks, some local Jewishactivists, led by the American Jewish Congress, have been making theshmatte business and its workers once again the object oftheir heartfelt intentions.

Beyond the Orange Curtain

By Joel Kotkin
Published on September 11, 1997

The recent revelations about the South OrangeCounty Community College District's desire to offer a course that, inpart, blames the Mossad and the Anti-Defamation League for theassassination of President John F. Kennedy read something like a badclipping from the area's far-right past.

Revitalizing Our Past and Future in Pico-Union

By Joel Kotkin
Published on August 21, 1997

Among these earlier settlers were many Jewish families, who, notinterested in joining the growing ersatz shtetl up in Boyle Heights,built their graceful homes in the tony new district.

Disney, Boycotts and the Hollywood Elite

By Joel Kotkin
Published on July 24, 1997

It's hard to feel sorry for the Walt Disney Company, a multi billion-dollar mouse-forged empire that seems to own a part of most children's hearts, including that of my own 2 1/2-year-old. Yet, in recent weeks, the venerable Burbank entertainment giant has been subjected to two major boycotts, one from the right-leaning Southern Baptists and the other from Latino media activists.

Bilingual Blues

By Joel Kotkin
Published on June 19, 1997

Here we go again. For the third time in four years, Californians are about to be treated to another racially tinged slugfest, this time over bilingual education.