The European Left and the Jewish Question, 1848-1992

This book examines how left-wing political and cultural movements in Western Europe have considered Jews in the last two hundred years. The chapters seek to answer the following question: has there been a specific way in which the Left has considered Jewish minorities? The subject has taken various shapes in the different geographical contexts, influenced by national specificities. In tandem, this volume demonstrates the extent to which left-wing movements share common trends drawn from a collective repertoire of representations and meanings. Highlighting the different aspects of the subject matter, the chapters in this book are divided in three parts, each dedicated to a major theme: the contribution of the theorists of Socialism to the Jewish Question; Antisemitism and its representations in left-wing culture; and the perception of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Taken together, these three themes allow for a multidisciplinary analysis of the relationship between the Left and Jews fromthe second half of the nineteenth century to recent times.

Auteur

Alessandra Tarquini is Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Rome Sapienza, Italy. Her recent publications include: Storia della cultura fascista (Il mulino 2016), Italian Intellectuals and International Politics, 1945-1992 (edited with Andrea Guiso, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), and La sinistra Italiana e gli ebrei: socialismo, sionismo e antisemitismo (Il mulino, 2019).

Contenu

1. Antisemitism and the French left between culture and politics: a long-term perspective- Michel Dreyfus.- Part I: The Theorists of Socialism.- 2. Religion et Politique: Saint-Simonians, Jews and the Jewish Paradigm- Alberto Scigliano.- 3. Cesare Lombroso, the "blast of antisemitism" and "socialist neo-Christianity"- Xavier Tabet.- 4. Anarchists and the Jews: Bernard Lazare's analysis of antisemitism- Stefania Mazzone.- 5. Wilhelm Marr and the Left in Germany: the birth of modern antisemitism in Imperial Germany- Didier Musiedlak.- 6. Sorel and the Jewish Question- Luca Basile.- 7. Corrupter of the Working Class. Italian Revolutionary Syndicalism and the antisemitic Critics of Democracy- Enrico Serventi Longhi.- 8. Antonio Gramsci and the Jewish Question- Andrea Pinazzi.- Part II: The Representation of antisemitism.- 9. Adorno's Interpretation of antisemitism and the Dialectics of Civilization- Stefano Petrucciani.- 10. Left-wing intellectuals and the representation of the Shoah in Italy: from the Second World War to the 1970s, between anti-fascism and the Frankfurt School- Alessandra Tarquini.- 11. Avanti! and the memory of the Shoah (1961-1967)- Bianca Dematteis.- 12. Umberto Terracini: his commitment to the memory of the Shoah, his relationship with Israel and his fight against antisemitism- Marta Nicolo.- 13. A Nostalgia for Totality: Cesare Cases between antisemitism, the Jewish Question, and Israel- Simon Levis Sullam.- Part III: The Israel Question.- 14. The Italian Communist Party and the Israel Question during the First Years of the Cold War: Toward a Historical Semantics of Communist Anti-Zionism Andrea Guiso.- 15. The Italian Communists and Socialists' Reading of the Six-Day War and Its Consequences- Claudio Brillanti.- 16. On the Continued Relevance of an Austrian left-wing intellectual: Jean Améry's critique of leftist Anti-Zionism- Lars Fischer.- 17. Jewish left-wing intellectuals in Postwar Germany: the case of Micha Brumlik and the Israeli Palestinian conflict between antisemitism and Anti-Zionism- Anna Corsten.- 18. The French radical Left ant the Jews: the influence of the Arab-Israeli conflict on Anti-Zionism within the French radical Left between 1967 and the early 1980s- Thomas Maineult.- 19. The Italian radical Left and the Arab-Israeli Question (1969-1977)- Gregorio Sorgonà.- 20. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict seen by the Spanish left from the Gulf War until today- Manuelle Peloille.