Zionism

An Emotional State

Derek J. Penslar

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780813576091
  9780813576107
• eBook ISBN:
  9780813576114
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historiography
• Index: History

Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award for Modern Jewish Thought and Experience.

Emotion lies at the heart of all national movements, and Zionism is no exception. For those who identify as Zionist, the word connotes liberation and redemption, uniqueness and vulnerability. Yet for many, Zionism is a source of distaste if not disgust, and those who reject it are no less passionate than those who embrace it. The power of such emotions helps explain why a word originally associated with territorial aspiration has survived so many years after the establishment of the Israeli state.

Zionism: An Emotional State expertly demonstrates how the energy propelling the Zionist project originates from bundles of feeling whose elements have varied in volume, intensity, and durability across space and time. Beginning with an original typology of Zionism and a new take on its relationship to colonialism, Penslar then examines the emotions that have shaped Zionist sensibilities and practices over the course of the movement's history. The resulting portrait of Zionism reconfigures how we understand Jewish identity amidst continuing debates on the role of nationalism in the modern world. 
 

Table of contents

• Cover
• More Praise for Zionism
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part I: Terms of Debate
• Part II: State of the Question
• Part III: In a New Key
• Conclusion
• Further Reading
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author