Radical Jewish Reading Circle: Emma Goldman

Join us for the Radical Jewish Reading Circle: three evenings of reading, thinking, and conversation about radical thinkers of Jewish origin.

This month we turn to Emma Goldman, the anarchist firebrand who declared: "The most violent element in society is ignorance." Born in 1869 to a Jewish family in Kovno, Russian Empire (present-day Lithuania), Goldman became the most notorious anarchist in America. A fearless advocate of free speech, birth control, workers' rights, and individual liberty, she was repeatedly imprisoned and ultimately deported from the United States in 1919. After witnessing the Bolshevik Revolution firsthand, she became one of its most eloquent critics, warning against authoritarianism on both the right and the left.

At a moment when questions of bodily autonomy, free expression, and state repression are once again at the forefront, what can Goldman teach us? What might her uncompromising defense of individual freedom and her critique of all forms of domination tell us about the struggles we face today?

No background required. All texts provided. This is a circle—we'll think through these questions together in small-group discussion.