Naming and framing

Publication Date: July 2009

Publisher: National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

Author(s): Shari Cohen

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: Public Opinions; Culture; Future; Language

Type: Other

Abstract:

The author warns about the dangers inherent in naming - the impulse to name the new and familiar is human, and public discourse needs to be based upon mutually understandable terms, but naming can also obscure and undermine the process of facing new challenges. She urges the Jewish community to be careful with nomenclature and to face the future prioritizing the creative use of intellectual resources over the multiplication of buzzwords.