Module overview
Most of current crises and conflicts have their roots in the history of empires – from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia to the wars in the Middle East. This module will introduce you to the ways in which empires shape our understanding of the ‘Other,’ through the example of the modern Jewish experience. It will enable you to understand the evolving political, socio-economic and legal position of Jews in the Russian and Soviet continental empires, from the late 18th century to its collapse.
The module will provoke you to think about questions such as: How did the Russian empire and Soviet Union deal with religious and ethnic difference? How did modernisation interplay with imperialism and antisemitism? How did Jews negotiate their identity in the Russian and Soviet empires?
We will examine the construction of the imperial Other and the way the Russian and Soviet power responded to the so-called ‘Jewish question’ from the end of the 18th century to Stalin. We will also analyse the Jewish responses to othering, including assimilation, migration and nationalisms. We will explore the complex relations between Jews, the imperial state and local populations, complicating your understanding of anti-Jewish violence and antisemitism in Eastern Europe. The module will decentre narratives of the Holocaust and look at its eastern European context.
By engaging with a wide variety of textual and visual sources – legal documents and press but also petitions, films, petitions, caricatures, and art – we will unpack the relationship between Jews and empires and get acquainted with key concepts in the study of empires.