[Mendele] MENDELE Personal Notices and Announcements--bundism.net

Tue Sep 16 16:59:31 EDT 2008

MENDELE Yiddish Language and Literature
Personal Notices and Announcements
Sept. 16, 2008
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From: davidslucki at gmail.com
Date: Sept. 16, 2008
Subject: bundism.net

bundism.net
A network devoted to research on the Jewish Labor Bund*

www.bundism.net

Network

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The history of the General Jewish Labor Bund, once the avant-garde of
the Jewish workers' movement and champions of modern Yiddish culture,
can be understood as an integral part of East European history and
labour history, but also as the history of a transnational movement.
Just as Bundists have dispersed around the world in the last 60 years,
so too has research on the Bund and subsequently, the proliferation of
research institutes, archives and libraries engaged with the history
of the movement. The last major international meeting of researchers
on the Bund took place in 1997 in Poland. The exchange of ideas
initiated by the conference participants cannot be considered closed.
On the contrary, after a number of quieter years in the field, a new
wave of research seems to have emerged, driven by researchers of
various interests, generations and origins. Especially significant is
the growing number of ongoing or planned dissertations, which suggests
that the imbalance between the Bund's historical relevance and its
scientific exploration serves as an impetus for young researchers.
There is currently no forum or space for intellectual exchange between
researchers, and in many cases, scholars in the field remain isolated.
In light of this, it seemed the right time for the initiators of
bundism.net to set up a new, transnational network based on modern
communication technologies.

Aims

bundism.net seeks to connect scholars throughout the world who are
interested in exploring the history and ideas of the Jewish Labor
Bund. We wish to create an interdisciplinary forum and provide
resources that will enrich the research of those involved. We are
committed to supporting a multiplicity of approaches and backgrounds.
We welcome research on any period or aspect of Bund history and
theory. bundism.net is committed to a plurality of approaches and
welcomes any scholar who is interested in enriching the canon of Bund
historiography. We also want to start a discussion about problems and
trends in Jewish and cultural history. bundism.net will also contain
resources, links and information to assist anyone interested in the
study of the Bund. Ultimately, we wish to create a transnational
community where people can share their resources, wisdom and insight
in order to enliven and enrich research into an important chapter in
modern Jewish history.

Features

In order to achieve these aims, bundism.net offers the following:

- Information about ongoing projects
- Direct contact to researchers worldwide
- Information, including contact details, about relevant institutions
(such as archives and libraries).
- A mailing-list that serves as both a distribution list for specific
information and a discussion group -- An extensive up-to-date
bibliography
- An extensive list of web links and online resources
- A collection of information relevant to the field

Contact

Membership is free of charge and we warmly welcome anyone interested
in the subject. More information and application forms can be
requested by e-mailing: blitspost at bundism.net.

We look forward to welcoming you into the group,

Rebekka Denz (Braunschweig, Berlin), David Slucki (Melbourne), Frank
Wolff (Köln, Bielefeld)

--------

* General Jewish Labor Bund (Algemeyner yidisher arbeterbund)

The Jewish Labour Bund was established in the Russian empire in 1897.
Throughout its first half-century, the Bund was a leading political,
social and cultural force in the Eastern European Jewish world,
championing workers' rights, Jewish equality, and the modernization of
Yiddish culture. Bundists were active in Russian socialist circles,
and the party was an important participant in the 1905 revolution.
After its liquidation by the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union after the
1917 Russian Revolution, the Bund's centre shifted to Poland, where it
built up a large following with its extensive network of social and
cultural organizations. By the eve of the war, the Bund was one of the
most popular organizations on the Jewish street. During the Holocaust
period the Bund was active in the underground and as partisans in
ghettos and camps throughout Nazi-occupied Europe, and also sought to
publicize the atrocities to the western world. The Holocaust crippled
the Polish Bund though, as its members and its natural constituency,
Polish Jewry, were virtually annihilated by the Nazis. The communist
government of Poland oversaw the final liquidation of the Polish Bund
in 1948. Although the Bund would never again reach the lofty heights
it had in Eastern Europe, it still played a constructive role in
post-Holocaust Jewish communities around the world, and with the
founding of the World Coordinating Committee of Bund Organizations in
1947, it established itself first the first time as a global,
transnational movement. It continued its role as a vociferous advocate
of the rights of Yiddish within Jewish communities throughout the
world, including Israel. Despite the Bund's significance in modern
Jewish history, research on the movement remains sparse and the
subject of much debate.

________________________________

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