"The Emergence of Modern Jewish Politics analyzes the changes in Jewish political life wrought by Zionism and Bundism, and explores the relationship between politics, culture, and society among the Jews of Eastern Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.".

"While contributors to The Emergence of Modern Jewish Politics debate the ultimate success and failure of the various parties and the appropriateness of their tactics, inevitably most examine such issues through the prism of the Holocaust, which effectively terminated East European Jewish politics.

These essays also raise the issue of whether ethnic minorities are best served by highly ideological or highly pragmatic political movements in trying to defend their interests in nondemocratic, multiethnic states."--BOOK JACKET.