Marxismus, jüdischer Nationalismus und Zionismus : Historische Analyse eines angespannten Verhältnisses

Abstract

The article analysis the ambivalent relation between Marxist theory and the socialist movement on the one side and Jewish nationalism and Zionism on the other. It challenges major parts of the existing scholarly work on the problem in regard to its methodological approach, arguing that the relation was not primarily shaped by the socialists' alleged antisemitism, but rather by their approach to the "national question" and their rejection of "separatism". The analysis of core texts by the Central and Eastern European labor movement of the late 19th and early 20th century shows the complexity, ambivalence, and changeability of the socialists' approach towards Jewish national demands. It shows that the approach was less shaped by abstract theoretical-ideological positions or resentments, but rather by the practical-political challenges, labor organizations faced in this period.