Debora Eller - Daughters of the Enlightenment

Debates about Zionism and feminism today are often conducted along hardened political lines. This lecture proposes a different perspective: It looks at the foundations of both movements in terms of the history of ideas.
Based on Einat Wilf and Shany Mor's thesis that feminism and Zionism are "daughters of the Enlightenment", the lecture examines their common origins in the intellectual break with a hierarchical order understood as God-given. Both movements arose from the aspiration to no longer accept the seemingly unchangeable - the subordination of women and the political powerlessness of Jews - as fate, but to understand them as changeable social conditions.
Against this background, the role of feminist women within the Zionist movement will be examined: from early activists to contemporary voices in Israel that negotiate issues of self-determination, security and equality. In addition, the lecture will provide insights into current feminist debates in Israel and feminist-Zionist perspectives in Germany. The lecture makes it clear that feminism and Zionism are to be understood as historically related emancipatory projects.

Debora Eller's lecture "Töchter der Aufklärung - Ideengeschichtliche Grundlagen von Feminismus und Zionismus" is organized by our student union, the JuFo Heidelberg and the Antisemitism Department of Heidelberg University.

Pre-registration required >>