Reading History Together: "Here Where We Live Is Our Country" by Molly Crabapple

A facilitated discussion of Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund by Molly Crabapple. From the publisher: This story begins with Molly Crabapple's discovery of the art and ephemera left behind by her great-grandfather, Sam Rothbort. Sam was a rough-and-tumble kid who worked at a tannery deep in the Pale of Settlement in 19th century Russia. As a young man he discovered that he was not just a laborer, but an artist--and soon after that, a revolutionary, enlisted in the strikes, street fights, and study groups of a new group of radicals sweeping the Pale: the Jewish Bund. Crabapple saw herself not just in her great-grandfather's career as an artist, but in his revolutionary inclinations. In the story of the Bund, she discovered a movement of artists, philosophers, working people, and street fighters with a thrilling utopian vision for the world. The founders of the Bund understood themselves as Jews--people with a special history of oppression--but also as part of an international movement that rejected all forms of ethnonationalism. Crabapple asks a critical question: did the Bund fail because of an unworkable dream of solidarity? Or did the world, in thrall to zero-sum nationalism, fail the Bund? This dynamic story is driven by that urgent question--and offers a new lens through which to see our contemporary struggles. Reading History Together is a quarterly book discussion focused on recently published or classic works of narrative non-fiction, including general histories and biographies. Reading at least part of work is encouraged. Facilitated discussions may feature supplementary articles, videos or talks from experts.