More than seventy years since the Bolsheviks came to power; there is still no comprehensive study of workers' activism in history's first successful workers' revolution. Strikes and Revolution in Russia; 1917 is the first effort in any language to explore this issue in both quantitative and qualitative terms and to relate strikes to the broader processes of Russia's revolutionary transformation. Diane Koenker and William Rosenberg not only provide a new basis for understanding essential elements of Russia's social and political history in this critical period but also make a strong contribution to the literature on European labor movements. Using statistical techniques; but without letting methodology dominate their discussion; the authors examine such major problems as the mobilization of labor and management; factory relations; perceptions; the formation of social identities; and the relationship between labor protest and politics in 1917. They challenge common assumptions by showing that much strike activity in 1917 can be understood as routine; but they are also able to demonstrate how the character of strikes began to change and why.Originally published in 1990.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
#755287 in Books Biale David 2015-10-27 2015-10-27Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.43 x .62 x 5.85l; .0 #File Name: 0691168040248 pagesNot in the Heavens The Tradition of Jewish Secular Thought
Review
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Why no mention of Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine; 1928--2007; the founder of Humanistic Judaisim in this book about modern secular JudaisBy Kindle Customerthis is a very thorough and fascinating book about modern secular Jews. Yet; sadly there is no mention or discussion of Rabbi Sherwin Wine. Very disappointing to those of us who knew Wine personally and belonged to his Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit; Michigan.1 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A thought provoking bookBy Ernest HammerThis book traces the the history of secularism in Judiaism through the ages. It presents the thoughts and writings of the jewish philosophers leading up to the present day.5 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Jewish Secularism from Antiquity to the Present; Reciprocity of Christian-Jewish PrejudicesBy Jan PeczkisThe author cites the "non-Jewish Jew"; Polish Jew Isaac Deutscher; and his heroes: Spinoza; Heine; Marx; Rosa Luxemburg; Trotsky; and Freud. Like Deutscher; Biale sees these Jews as connected to the tradition they had rejected--a sort of alternative Jewish identity. (p. 1).To Biale; the descendant of Polish Jews; secularism does not necessarily mean atheism. Belief in God can be retained while stripping God of his Biblical personality and authority. (p. 15). According to Biale; Judaism emphasizes orthopraxy (correct practice) over orthodoxy (correct belief); and the Jewish concept of God; unlike its Christian counterpart; is not heavily endowed with dogma. This; according to the author; makes it easier to imagine a world without Him. (p. 15; see also p. 103).Maimonides and Spinoza are credited with anticipating the later rationalistic and allegorical view of the Bible; especially when it conflicted with science. Instead of abandoned as outdated and mythological; the Bible eventually became transformed into a Jewish cultural icon. Spinoza is reckoned a pantheist; although he seemed to believe that God; although in no sense like the God of the Bible; was something more than just a personification of the universe. (p. 43). Albert Einstein's view was similar; which made him neither a theist (in the traditional sense); nor a crude materialist. (p. 43).The author devotes much attention to Zionism; and its creation and reinforcement of a secular Jewish identity. Many Zionist personages and their philosophies are elaborated.On another subject; Joseph Hayim Brenner was a militantly secular Jew who lived in Palestine before being murdered by the Arabs in 1921. Unlike those who consider anti-Semitism necessarily irrational; Brenner did not. Biale comments: "Brenner goes so far as to express understanding for anti-Semites who accuse the Jews of using blood for ritual purposes...Brenner argues that the accusation is not the cause of anti-Semitism but its result. Hatred of the Jews is a response to their foreignness and to their negative qualities; particularly their economic behavior." (p. 160).Chaim Zhitlovsky (1865-1943) was a very interesting Russian Jew. The author identified him as "one of the leading ideologues of the secular Yiddishist movement." (p. 163). Zhitlovsky supported the premise that Christian-Jewish antagonisms went both ways. Biale thus characterizes Zhitlovsky: "Since Enlightenment universalism was the secular product of Western Christian culture; Jews must overcome their instinctive hatred of Christianity if they wish to join the modern world. The paradoxical path to Jewish secularization led through the Christian religion; not by conversion but by renouncing the Jewish religion's teaching of contempt. Yet; by reclaiming Jesus as one of their own; the Jews might argue that their culture was a key source for Western civilization." (p. 163).Unlike contemporary Judaism and the State of Israel; which deny Jews for Jesus and other Jesus-believing Jews as valid Jews; Zhitlovsky did not. His Sukkot big-tent concept of Judaism envisioned an inclusion of Orthodox Jews; atheist Jews; Spinoza-style pantheistic Jews; Islamic Jews; and Christian Jews. (p. 167; 192).The author focuses on eminent Jews; and spends little time on secularism amidst everyday Jews. However; he remarks; "That Jews throughout the world today are disproportionately more secular than their Gentile neighbors in all of the ways articulated in this book is one piece of evidence of the ongoing nature of this legacy." (p. 181). In addition: "The majority of Jews in the world today are; in some sense; secular. They either doubt the existence of God or consider the question superfluous." (p. 192). [Were he alive today; would Polish Cardinal August Hlond feel vindicated for his much-maligned 1936 "Jews are freethinkers" statement?] Biale agrees with those who suggest that the Holocaust has become a kind of secular religion among American Jews. (p. 189).
