ThoughtGallery.org > The ‘Reconquest’ of Jewishness in Post-War America: Will Herberg and Irving Howe

The ‘Reconquest’ of Jewishness in Post-War America: Will Herberg and Irving Howe

With presenter Tony Michels, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and moderator Daniel Soyer, Fordham University

The outbreak of the Second World War precipitated an ideological-political crisis among Marxists in the United States. For much of the 1930s, Marxian intellectuals-specifically, those hostile to the Communist Party-had struggled to understand the rise of Nazism and the consolidation of Stalinism, but did so within Marxism’s parameters. However, Germany’s invasion of Poland, the systematic killing of Jews that followed, and the Soviet invasion of Finland raised questions about Marxism itself. Against the backdrop of totalitarianism, war, and genocide, intellectuals undertook a thorough reconsideration of Marxism. This process of rethinking Marxism entailed a new engagement with things Jewish: religion, Yiddish literature, Zionism, and the meaning of Jewish identity. This seminar explores the turn to Jewishness by intellectuals during the 1940s and 1950s through the examples of Will Herberg and Irving Howe.

RSVP required: [email protected]











When: Tue., Nov. 26, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Where: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 W. 16th St.
212-294-8330
Price: Free; RSVP required
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With presenter Tony Michels, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and moderator Daniel Soyer, Fordham University

The outbreak of the Second World War precipitated an ideological-political crisis among Marxists in the United States. For much of the 1930s, Marxian intellectuals-specifically, those hostile to the Communist Party-had struggled to understand the rise of Nazism and the consolidation of Stalinism, but did so within Marxism’s parameters. However, Germany’s invasion of Poland, the systematic killing of Jews that followed, and the Soviet invasion of Finland raised questions about Marxism itself. Against the backdrop of totalitarianism, war, and genocide, intellectuals undertook a thorough reconsideration of Marxism. This process of rethinking Marxism entailed a new engagement with things Jewish: religion, Yiddish literature, Zionism, and the meaning of Jewish identity. This seminar explores the turn to Jewishness by intellectuals during the 1940s and 1950s through the examples of Will Herberg and Irving Howe.

RSVP required: [email protected]

Buy tickets/get more info now