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Jewish Nationalism: What Americans Do Not Get About Zionism

February 21, 2019 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

The Center for Jewish Civilization invites you to a lecture by Dr. Jerry Z. Muller.

This lecture puts Jewish nationalism in its historical and comparative context. Zionism is the pre-eminent form of modern Jewish nationalism, embodied in the State of Israel. But Americans in general (including many American Jews) have a difficult time understanding Zionism. Zionism is a form of ethnic nationalism, based on the premise that the Jewish people, like other peoples, requires its own state, and that the state should be made up predominantly of people of shared ethnicity. Ethnic nationalism has long been a force in American national identity, but it has largely been overshadowed by a more civic conception of national identity, in which common origins are downplayed. Some Americans believe that ethnic nationalism was discredited by the Nazi regime and by the Second World War. But in fact, most of post-WWII Europe was based upon nation states, defined largely in ethnic terms. Today, ethnic nationalism is the norm in much of the world. Yet Americans, generalizing from an idealized conception of their own national experience, tend to regard it as anomalous and morally abhorrent. In fact, ethnic nationalism often provides the basis for solidarity in successful nation states, including the State of Israel, while the absence of a sense of national identity accounts for the travails and failures of many states, including many of Israel’s neighbors. And contrary to what many Americans assume, a state with a strong ethno-national identity, such as Israel, can be more liberal in its treatment of cultural minorities than more nominally liberal states, such as France.

Dr. Jerry Z. Muller is professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He earned his B.A. from Brandeis University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has been a fellow of the American Academy in Berlin; the Rockefeller Foundation Center in Bellagio, Italy; and the American Council of Learned Societies. He is the author of six books, including most recently Capitalism and the Jews (2010) and The Tyranny of Metrics (2018), both published by Princeton University Press. He publishes frequently in general interest magazines, newspapers, and websites. His essays include “Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism,” Foreign Affairs, March-April, 2008; and “Capitalism and Inequality: What the Right and the Left Get Wrong,” Foreign Affairs, March-April, 2013.

Light refreshments will be served prior to the event. RSVP is encouraged.

Any person with an accommodation request is welcome to email us at cjcinfo@georgetown.edu. We will try to meet these accommodation requests to the best of our ability.

RSVP at jmuller2019.eventbrite.com

Details

Date:
February 21, 2019
Time:
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Venue

McGhee Library