Class Struggle in the Pale: The Formative Years of the Jewish Workers' Movement in Tsarist Russia - Hardcover

Mendelsohn, Ezra

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521077303 ISBN 13: 9780521077309

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1970

Synopsis

Beginning in the 1890s, and continuing into the twentieth century, Jewish workers in the Russian Pale of Settlement organised themselves to improve their economic and cultural situation. Their struggle was the result of an alliance with the Jewish socialist intelligentsia, which began by teaching workers in select 'circles' and ended by assuming the leadership of a mass labour movement. In this book, originally published in 1970, Dr Mendelsohn analyses the nature and condition of the Russian Jewish proletariat. There follows a discussion on the 'propaganda' period and the subsequent transition to 'agitation'. The Jewish strike movement is analysed, with special attention to the workers' aims, tactics and relations with the formal institutions of the organised labour movement. Dr Mendelson also considers the relationship between the proletarian rank-and-file and the movement's leadership, placing emphasis on movements of opposition. The study concludes by considering the ultimate value of the Jewish labour movement for its participants, and by assessing its unique position in the context of Russian labour history.

About this title

Book Description

In this book, originally published in 1970, Dr Mendelsohn analyses the nature and condition of the Russian Jewish proletariat. He considers the relationship between the proletarian rank-and-file and the movement's leadership, placing emphasis on movements of opposition. The study concludes by considering the ultimate value of the Jewish labour movement for its participants, and by assessing its unique position in the context of Russian labour history.

About the Author

Ezra Mendelsohn is Professor at the Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and Lerner Visiting Professor of Judaic Studies at Duke University. He is the author of four books on modern Jewish history, including On Modern Jewish Politics, and co-editor of Studies in Contemporary Jewry.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1970
• ISBN 10: 0521077303
• ISBN 13: 9780521077309
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192