Disraeli and Marx—Explorations in Identity and Ideology
Marty Kaufman
Mondays, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
2/28, 3/7, 3/14, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4
OFFERED VIRTUALLY
It’s hard to imagine two towering European figures more different than British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and Karl Marx - other than being raised in families that converted from Judaism. The conservative dandy who defended the landed aristocracy against notions of democracy, equality or change. The grim, poverty-stricken subversive plotting the doom of the accursed exploiters.
To what extent did their personal backgrounds and identities - particularly their relationships to their Jewish identities - influence the development of their opinions and ideologies? Were they responding to the same forces even while moving in opposite directions?
We will analyze a selection of lively writings about Disraeli and Marx from Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin and Gershom Scholem, all of whom insightfully painted vivid intellectual bio-portraits of these fabulously influential figures.
The Harrison S. Kravis Course in Jewish Studies
212.507.9580 | EmanuelStreickerNYC.org