NatHum · Humanism and Nationalism: Reconsidering Zionism after the First World War, 1918–1938

The overarching objective of the NatHum project is to establish a new, comprehensive framework of national humanism, a little-studied Zionist current in the interwar period with the aim of contributing to a more accurate understanding of Zionism itself. Contrary to the still prevailing Zionist historiography, which identifies this movement with the establishment of Israel in 1948, NatHum will stress the importance of global networks and displacement of actors thus transcending the nation-state narrative. National humanism was, indeed, a legitimate offshoot of cultural Zionism that was developed between Europe and Palestine by German-speaking Zionist intellectuals, including Hans Kohn, Hugo Bergmann, Max Brod, Felix and Robert Weltsch. Their objective was to differentiate post-Balfour Zionism from European nationalism and to encourage political federal alternatives to statism by promoting a challenging synthesis of the ethical ideals of Judaism and the political aspirations of Zionism. Indeed, NatHum is based on the initial assumption that a number of little-studied federal, multinational and binational plans developed during the 1920s are historical evidence of a cross-border plural debate within Zionism on the practical application of the principle of Jewish self-determination.The project will thereby examine Zionist theories and actions through a comparative analysis of a vast array of archival and periodical sources. The methodology will be based on a close reading of sources, the historical-philological method, a critical-deconstructive approach in line with post-colonial studies, and a transnational perspective. This will ensure the achievement of the research and innovative objectives of the project. The ultimate objective of NatHum involves examining how global networks, the dissemination of ideas, and the movement of individuals have shaped the development of new theories, actions, attitudes, and interests across Europe, the U.S. and Mandatory Palestine.