Zach Smerin: The Jewish Labour Bund, Past and Present: Why the Autonomist Jewish Socialist Tradition Is Relevant Again

The Jewish Labour Bund, Past and Present
Why the Autonomist Jewish Socialist Tradition Is Relevant Again

A talk by Zach Smerin

From the series Jewishness Otherwise. Part 2.

The Jewish Labour Bund is a secular, non-Zionist socialist movement that has defended Jewish culture since 1897. While the Bund’s influence decreased after World War II, it has recently been making a comeback, and in this talk Zach Smerin argues for the continued significance of Bundist principles in contemporary context. After outlining the history of the Bund, with its successes as well as failures, Smerin will discuss Bundist organising in practice today in Melbourne, Kraków, and the United States.

Zach Smerin is co-host of the Jewish Diasporist podcast and an expert on the history and present of the Jewish Labour Bund.

The discussion series “Jewishness Otherwise” looks beyond received understandings of Jewishness, exploring the multiple ways of connecting Jewish thought and historical experience to the possibilities of human emancipation. This event will be held in English. Future events will alternate between English and Czech. Organized with the support of the Strategie AV 21 research program, “Identities in a World of Wars and Crises.”