Morris Hillquit: A Political History of an American Jewish Socialist

Contributions in Political Science #20

by Norma Fain Pratt

Pratt uses Hillquit's career to probe the nature of the socialist movement in America.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 1979

Reviews

[David Damiano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this is an insightful and concise portrait of Hillquit. I think I was initially skeptical because the author states upfront that despite their being a good amount material to work with, there’s a dearth of personal materials. As a result, Hillquit the man doesn’t really shine through and it’s harder to get a sense of him. All the same, Fain Pratt does a good job with what was available to her. She ultimately presents Hillquit as a man beset by contradictions, both ideological and personal. He was a Jew who rejected Jewishness and Yiddishkeit, and he was a socialist who rejected radicalism and revolutionary measures.

I think the most convincing argument comes in the book’s conclusion when Fain Pratt writes that “without entirely realizing it, Hillquit identified personally with the middle class.” As a successful lawyer who had very quickly risen above the privations of working class existence, Hillquit was spatially and mentally separated from the very people whom his movement claimed to represent. He ostensibly championed working class democracy, but his authoritarian actions as party leader contradicted and actively stunted the development of that phenomenon.

I think, ultimately, criticizing Hillquit excessively, or any other party leader for that matter, assumes too large a role that individuals can play over a mass social movement such as this one. But Hillquit’s aversion to radicalism, obsession with respectability, and authoritarian predilections certainly didn’t help the Socialist Party in the long run. He’s a complicated figure, and in many respects a tragic one. Fain Pratt’s book does a good job illustrating that. I only wish she would have devoted more time to certain moments where I’m sure more material exists. The 1917 mayoral campaign for instance is explored only briefly, and split across two chapters.