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"This book examines the emotional aspects of revolutionary experience during a critical turning point in both Russian and Jewish history - the 1905 Revolution. Inna Shtakser argues that radicalization involved an emotional transformation, which enabled many young revolutionaries to develop an activist attitude towards reality and a prioritization of feelings demanding action over others. Uncovering the links between feeling, idea and activism holds a special significance in the context of modern Jewish history. When pogroms swept through Jewish communities during 1905-06, young Jews who had fled years earlier, often after bitter conflicts with their families and a difficult rejection of traditions, returned to protect their communities. Never expecting to return or be accepted back, they arrived with new identities forged in radical study circles and revolutionary experience as activist, self-assertive Jews. The self-assertion that had earlier led them away made them more effective leaders than the traditional Jewish communal authorities"--
List of contents
Introduction PART I: BECOMING A REVOLUTIONARY 1. The Road to a Revolutionary Identity 2. The Radicalization of Students and Apprentices PART II - BEING A REVOLUTIONARY 3. Identity Forged in Revolution 4. The Emotional Experience of Revolutionary Activism 5. Self-Defense Units as an Emotional Experience Conclusion Appendix - The Sources
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"This book is not just of historical interest, but also contains plenty of insight for contemporary social theorists and activists concerned with the interplay of ethnic identities, patriarchy and class that echo practical issues for contemporary anti-capitalist, feminist and anti-racist inter-organisational co-operation. This volume deserves a wider readership beyond historians of Jewish East European history." (Benjamin Franks, Anarchist Studies, Vol. 28 (1), 2020)
"The combination of the new sources and new methodology makes this work a valuable addition to research on the Jewish labor movement in general and Jewish revolutionary parties in particular. ... the book is an important contribution to the research of Jewish participation in the 1905-1907 Russian Revolution - more so in the form of the workers' movement than party politics." (Vladimir Levin, Ab Imperio, Issue 3, 2016)
