Jews and Leftist Politics: Judaism, Israel, Antisemitism, and Gender

by Jack Jacobs (Editor)

Overview

The relationships, past and present, between Jews and the political left remain of abiding interest to both the academic community and the public. Jews and Leftist Politics contains new and insightful chapters from world-renowned scholars and considers such matters as the political implications of Judaism; the relationships of leftists and Jews; the histories of Jews on the left in Europe, the United States, and Israel; contemporary anti-Zionism; the associations between specific Jews and Communist parties; and the importance of gendered perspectives. It also contains fresh studies of canonical figures, including Gershom Scholem, Gustav Landauer, and Martin Buber, and examines the affiliations of Jews to prominent institutions, calling into question previous widely held assumptions. The volume is characterized by judicious appraisals made by respected authorities, and sheds considerable light on contentious themes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108105538
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/24/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Jack Jacobs is Professor of Political Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the author of a number of titles including most recently The Frankfurt School, Jewish Lives, and Antisemitism (Cambridge, 2015). He was a Fulbright Scholar at Tel Aviv University in 1996–7, and also served as Fulbright Scholar at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute, Lithuania in 2009.

Table of Contents

Introduction Jack Jacobs; Part I. Political Implications of Judaism: 1. The strangeness of Jewish Leftism Michael Walzer; Part II. Antisemitism and the Left: 2. The dualisms of capitalist modernity: reflections on history, the Holocaust, and antisemitism Moishe Postone; 3. Marxism's other Jewish questions Lars Fischer; Part III. Israel, Zionism, and the Left: 4. Socialist Zionism and nation building Anita Shapira; 5. Delegitimation of Israel or social-historical analysis? The debate over Zionism as a colonial settler movement Yoav Peled; 6. Does the Left have a Zionist problem? From the general to particular Mitchell Cohen; Part IV. Jews and Communism: 7. Jews and Communism in the Soviet Union and Poland Antony Polonsky; 8. Jews and American Communism Harvey Klehr; Part V. Gendered Perspectives: 9. Gesia Gelfman: a Jewish woman on the Left in Imperial Russia Barbara Alpern Engel; 10. Manya Schochat and her travelling guns: Jewish radical women from Progrom self-defense to the first Kibbutzim Deborah Hertz; 11. The gender of Jews and the politics of women: a reflection Alice Kessler-Harris; Part VI. Canonical Figures: 12. Gershom Scholem and the Left Steven E. Aschheim; 13. The romantic Socialism of Gustav Landauer Michael Löwy; 14. Martin Buber between Left and Right Uri Ram; Part VII. Case Studies: 15. The Soviet Union, Jewish concerns, and the New York electoral Left, 1939–44 Daniel Soyer; 16. Jews and the Left at the New School Judith Friedlander; 17. Deutscher and Jews: on the non-Jewish Jew - an analysis and personal reflection Samuel Farber.

Editorial Reviews

'This is an admirable and diverse set of essays which provides considerable food for thought - a real contribution to an understanding of the relationship between Jews and leftist politics.' Colin Shindler, Fathom

'The topics covered range from reflections on modernity and capitalism, socialist Zionism, Jews and Communism in the Soviet Union and Poland, and Jews and American Communism to radical Jewish women in Imperial Russia. They include focused discussions on Gershom Scholem, Gustav Landauer, Martin Buber, Isaac Deutscher, the electoral left in New York during World War II, and Jewish contributions to the New School for Social Research.' Juliana Geran Pilon, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

From the Publisher