(3 of 8) Jews and the Left | Day 1 | Session 2

May 6, 2012
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research | co-presented with American Jewish Historical Society
Session 2: Antisemitism and the Left, from Karl Marx to Present Day
Chair: Jonathan Brent
Norman Geras: "Universalisms genuine and spurious."
Lars Fischer: "Marxism's Other Jewish Questions."
Moishe Postone: "The Dualisms of Capitalist Modernity: Thoughts on History, the Holocaust, and the Left."
Since the nineteenth century, Jews have played prominent roles in a variety of leftist political movements. At the same time, associations between Jews and communism have been a frequent leitmotif of antisemitic thinking. While the political Left often spoke out against antisemitism and promised Jews tolerance and an end to distinctions between Jews and non-Jews, specific, prominent, leftists espoused antisemitic ideas. In addition, Jews cultivated their own, uniquely Jewish, socialist parties and ideologies. In recent years, the relationship between Jews and the Left has been further complicated by left-wing opposition to the State of Israel and debates about the extent to which this opposition bleeds into outright antisemitism. YIVO, in association with AJHS, brought together historians, political scientists, philosophers, and journalists from Europe, Israel, and America to discuss some of the important topics pertaining to the relationship between Jews and the Left.
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