History901:ZionismandItsCritics
(Spring2017)
Tuesdays,3:30‐5:15
Humanities2261
Prof.TonyMichels
Office:Humanities4103
OfficeHours:Wed.10:00‐12:00
Phone:265‐2521
E‐mail:[email protected]
CourseDescription
Inthelate‐19thcentury,Jewsinanumberofcountriesinitiatedamovementforthe
creationofaJewishhomelandofsomekindinPalestine,thenpartoftheOttoman
TurkishEmpire.KnownasZionism,thismovementeventuallyledtothe
establishmentoftheStateofIsraelin1948.Zionistsrangedacrossthepolitical
spectrumfromlefttoright.ThereweremultipleformsofZionism,sometimes
mutuallyantagonistic,thatpursuedvariousstrategiesandgoals.Throughoutits
history,Zionismalsogeneratedfiercecriticismfrommanyquarterswithinand
outsidetheJewishcommunity.MuchwasatstakeindebatesbetweenZionistsand
theircritics,andamongZioniststhemselves:thefateofJewsinincreasingly
perilouscountries;thefutureofempiresintheMiddleEast;theprospectsofArab
nationalisminPalestine;andothercriticalissues.Thisseminarexploresthe
historyoftheZionistmovement—itsideasandpolitics—inrelationtoitscritics
frommultipleperspectives.ItsgeographicscopecoversEurope,Palestine,andthe
UnitedStatesupto1948.Initsbroadestframe,theseminarisabouttheclash
betweennationalism,socialism,andliberalismthroughthecaseoftheJewsasthey
becameentangledwithnation‐states,empires,andrevolutionsfromthemid‐19th
centurytothemid‐20century.
Requirements
Activeparticipationiscrucial.Iurgeyoutotakerisks,testideas,andraise
questionsregardlessofwhetheryou’reconvincedyouare“right.”Asuccessful
seminarisonewithlively,probing,freewheelingconversation.
Eachstudentisexpectedtopresentreadingsduringthesemester.Your
presentationsshouldsuccinctlysummarizetheauthors’argumentsandidentify
whatyoubelievetobethemostimportantissuesfordiscussion.Presentations
shouldbenolongerthan15minutesinlength.
Finally,youarerequiredtowritetwopapersduringthesemester.Thefirstshould
bea10‐pageanalysisofagivenweek’sreadingsandwillbeduetwoweeksafter
thosereadingsareassigned.(Forinstance,ifyouwanttowriteonweekfour’s
readings,yourpaperwillbedueinweeksix.)YoursecondpaperisdueonMay11.
Itshouldbe15pagesinlengthandaddressaparticularhistoriographicissue,
theme,question,orproblem.Iencourageyoutospeakwithmeoutsideofclass
aboutyourfinalpapertopic.
Readings
Jan.17:Introduction
Jan.24:NationalisminHistoricalandTheoreticalPerspective
E.J.Hobsbawm,NationsandNationalismsince1780:Programme,Myth,Reality
(CambridgeUniv.Press,1990),entirebook.(Availableelectronicallythrough
MemorialLibrary.)
GopalBalakrishnan,ed.,MappingtheNation(Verso,1996),followingchapters:
*BenedictAnderson,“Introduction,”pp1‐16.
*MiroslavHroch,“FromNationalMovementtotheFully‐formedNation:The
Nation‐buildingProcessinEurope,”pp.78‐97.
*ErnestGellner,“TheComingofNationalismandItsInterpretation:The
MythsofNationandClass,”pp.98‐145.
*JohnBreuilly,“ApproachestoNationalism,”pp.146‐174.
*AnthonyD.Smith,“NationalismandtheHistorians,”pp.175‐197.
*GopalBalakrishnan,“TheNationalImagination,”pp.198‐213.
*ParthaChatterjee,“WhoseImaginedCommunity?”pp.214‐225.
Jan.31:JewsinModernEurope
JohnEfron,StevenWeitzman,et.al.,TheJews:AHistory(PrenticeHall,2009),pp.
260‐405.
PierreBirnbaumandIraKatznelson,“EmancipationandtheLiberalOffer”inPaths
toEmancipation:Jews,States,andCitizenship,eds.PierreBirnbaumandIra
Katznelson(PrincetonUniv.Press,1995),pp.3‐36.
JonathanFrankel,ProphecyandPolitics:Socialism,Nationalism&theRussianJews,
1862‐1917(CambridgeUniv.Press,1981),pp.1‐48.
Feb.7:TheRiseoftheMassPolitics
Frankel,ProphecyandPolitics,pp.49‐363.
Feb.14:Classcancelled
Note:Youhavetwoweekstoreadthefollowingtwobooks,whicharebest
discussedtogether.
Feb.21:PoliticalZionismandItsZionistCritics
ShlomoAvineri,Herzl’sVision:TheodorHerzlandtheFoundationoftheJewishState
(BlueBridge,2014),entirebook.[AvailableelectronicallythroughMemorial
Library.]
JessOlson,NathanBirnbaumandJewishModernity:ArchitectofZionism,Yiddishism,
andOrthodoxy(StanfordUniv.Press,2013).[Availableelectronicallythrough
MemorialLibrary.]
Feb.28:Marxistsand“TheJewishQuestion”
EnzoTraverso,TheMarxistsandtheJewishQuestion:TheHistoryofaDebate,1843‐
1943,trans.BernardGibbons(HumanitiesPress,1994),pp.1‐91,129‐150.
JackJacobs,OnSocialistsand“TheJewishQuestion”afterMarx(NewYorkUniv.
Press,1992),pp.1‐117.
ElissaBemporad,BecomingSovietJews:TheBolshevikExperimentinMinsk(Indiana
Univ.Press,2013),pp.1‐12,31‐80.[AvailableelectronicallythroughMemorial
Library.]
March7:VarietiesofJewishNationalismandAnti‐NationalisminEastern
Europe
EzraMendelsohn,TheJewsofEastCentralEuropebetweentheWorldWars(Indiana
Univ.Press,1983),pp,1‐83,171‐239.
KennethB.Moss,“NegotiatingJewishNationalisminInterwarWarsaw,”inWarsaw.
TheJewishMetropolis,eds.GlennDynnerandFrancoisGuesnet(Brill,2015),pp.
390‐434.
SamuelD.Kassow,“TheLeftPoaleiTsiyoninInterwarPoland”inTheEmergenceof
ModernJewishPolitics:BundismandZionisminEasternEurope,ed.ZviGitelman
(Univ.ofPittsburghPress,2003),pp.71‐84.
JaffSchatz,“JewsandtheCommunistMovementinInterwarPoland”inDarkTimes,
DireDecisions:JewsandCommunism.StudiesinContemporaryJewry.XX(2004),pp.
13‐37.
March14:Leftvs.RightinPalestine
AnitaShapira,Israel:AHistory(BrandeisUniv.Press,2012),pp.3‐152.(Available
electronicallythroughMemorialLibrary.)
MitchellCohen,Zion&State:Nation,ClassandtheShapingofModernIsrael(Basil
Blackwell,1987),pp.1‐10,42‐197.
March21:SpringBreak
March28:ZionistsandArabsinPalestine
IsraelKolatt,“TheZionistMovementandtheArabs,”inEssentialPapersonZionism,
eds.YehudaReinharzandAnitaShapira,(NewYorkUniv.Press,1996),pp.617‐647.
AnitaShapira,LandandPower:TheZionistResorttoForce,1881‐1948(Stanford
Univ.Press,1992),entirebook.
April4:classcancelled
April11:PalestinianNationalism
BaruchKimmerlingandJoelS.Migdal,ThePalestinianPeople:AHistory(Harvard
Univ.Press,2003),pp.xxv‐131.
RashidKhalidi,PalestinianIdentity:TheConstructionofModernNationalist
Consciousness(ColumbiaUniv.Press,1997),pp.89‐176.[Availableelectronically
throughMemorial.]
JonathanMarcGribetz,DefiningNeighbors:Religion,Race,andtheEarlyZionist‐Arab
Encounter(PrincetonUniv.Press,2014),entirebook.
April18:TheAmericanizationofZionism
NaomiWeinerCohen,TheAmericanizationofZionism,1897‐1948(BrandeisUniv.
Press,2003),entirebook.
AdamLively,“ContinuityandRadicalisminAmericanBlackNationalistThought,
1914‐1929,”JournalofAmericanStudies,Vol.18,No.2(Aug.,1984):207‐235.
[AvailablethroughJSTOR.]
April25:RoadsNotTaken
NoamPianko,Zionism&TheRoadsNotTaken:Rawidowicz,Kaplan,Kohn(Indiana
Univ.Press,2010),entirebook.[AvailableelectronicallythroughMemorial
Library.]
LeslieJ.Vaughan,“Cosmopolitanism,EthnicityandAmericanIdentity:Randolph
Bourne’s‘Trans‐NationalAmerica’,”JournalofAmericanStudies,Vol.25,No.3(Dec.
1991):443‐459.[AvailablethroughJSTOR.]
May2:AmericanJewsandForeignPolicy
MichaelN.Barnett,TheStarandStripes:AHistoryoftheForeignPoliciesofAmerican
Jews(PrincetonUniv.Press,2016).