A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist

John David Bies

doi:doi:10.11648/j.history.20190701.12

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A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist

John David Bies

Published in History Research (Volume 7, Issue 1)

Received: 21 June 2019 Accepted: 18 July 2019 Published: 13 August 2019

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Abstract

One of the foremost American anarchists of the early twentieth century was Emma Goldman who fought for the rights of working-class men and women. Upon her arrival in the US from the Lithuanian region of the Tsarist Russian Empire, she immediately became actively involved in the American Anarchist Movement. Initially she professed and involved herself in the violent overthrow of the government and its institutions and the selective assassination of exploitative leaders in industry and government. After her imprisonment, she found another avenue for her anarchical beliefs in the form of women’s issues that included freedom of choice in marriage, and control over decision-making relative to her own body – issues that resonate today. This article, then, analyses her concentrated fight for women egalitarianism that has been described as the first vestiges of Anarcha-feminism. It is argued that her evolution towards feminist causes can be explained via three “Geo-moments” that was used to illustrate how her political beliefs progressed from Russian Nihilism, to violent Anarchism, and finally to Anarcha-feminism. The three Geo-moments employed in this study were: first, her experiences as a young Nihilist under Tsarist Russian rule; second, her arrival in the United States and introduction to American Anarchism; and lastly, her medical training as a nurse at the University of Vienna that gave rise to her views of feminism. As an Anarcha-feminist, she addressed and fought for women’s rights to use birth control to decide how many children they wanted and fought against the female discriminatory aspects of the Comstock Law. In connection to her newly acquired medical education, Goldman has been identified as one of the initial supporters of the LGBT community, their issues and acceptance into society. Lastly, was her founding the founding of the periodical Mother Earth that served as a platform for her fight for female equality.

Published in	History Research (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.history.20190701.12
Page(s)	7-16
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Emma Goldman, Transnationalism, Anarcha-Feminism, Women’s Rights

References

[1]	Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays, First Edition, (Lexington: Will Jonson, 2013), p. 93.
[2]	Emma Goldman, Living My Life, Volume One, 1931, (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970), p. 12. Noted from this point on as LML, v. 1 or v. 2.
[3]	See: ‘The Hypocrisy of Puritanism’, ‘The Traffic in Women’, & ‘The Tragedy of Woman’s Emancipation’ in Anarchism and Other Essays.
[4]	The term “geo-moment” pertains to the influence or effect that geographic movements beyond the concept of state borders had on Goldman’s evolution as an anarcho-feminist.
[5]	C. A. Bayly, Sven Beckert, et al. ‘AHR Conversations: On Transnational History’, American Historical Review, (vol. 111 no. 5, December 2006), p. 1459.
[6]	Amrita Basu, ‘Globalization of the Local/Localization of the Global Mapping Transnational Women’s Movements’, Meridians, (vol. 1 no. 1, Autumn 2000), pp. 68-84.
[7]	Joseph S. Nye Jr. and Robert O. Keohane, ‘Transnational Relations and World Politics: An Introduction’, International Organization, (Vol. 25 No. 3, Summer 1971), pp. 329-349.
[8]	John M. Owen IV, The Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States and Regime Change, 1510-2010, (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010).
[9]	Michael Goebel, ‘Una Biografia Entre Espacios: M. N. Roy. Del Nacionalismo Indio al Comunismo Mexicano’, Historia Mexicana, (Vol. 62 No. 4 (248), Abril-Junio 2013), pp. 1459-1495.
[10]	John D. Bies, ‘Transnational Perspective of the Evolution of Rosa Luxemburg’s Theory of the Mass Strike, Critique, (Vol. 46 No. 2, May 2018), pp. 185-219.
[11]	Rebecca Korbin, ‘Currents and Currency: Jewish Immigrant “Bankers” and the Transnational Business of Mass Migration, 1873-1914, Transnational Traditions: New Perspectives on American Jewish History, Ava F. Kahn and Adam D. Mendelsohn, Editors, (Detroit, 2014), p. 90.
[12]	Amrita Basu, ‘Globalization”, pp. 68-84.
[13]	Michael Berkowitz, ‘Emma Goldman’s Radica Trajectory: A Resilient “Litvak” Legacy?’, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, (Vol. 11 No. 2, August 2012), p. 243.
[14]	Hadassa Kosak, Cultures of Opposition: Jewish Immigrant Workers, New York City, 1881-1905 (Albany NY: State University of New York Press, 2000).
[15]	Mark N. Ozer, The Litvak Legacy, (Xlibris, 2009), p. 145.
[16]	Peter Marshall, Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism, (Oakland CA: PM Press, 2010), p. 3.
[17]	Emma Goldman, ‘Anarchism and Other Essays’, Mother Earth Publishing Association, (New York-London, 1910).
[18]	Marshall, History of Anarchism, p. 556.
[19]	Susan L. Brown, ‘Beyond Feminism: Anarchism and Human Freedom’, in Reinventing Anarchy, Again, Howard J. Ehrlich, Editor, (San Francisco CA: AK Press, 1996), p. 208.
[20]	Emma Goldman, ‘Woman Suffrage’, Mother Earth Publishing Association, (New York-London, 1911), p. 202.
[21]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 12.
[22]	Michael Berkowitz, ‘Emma Goldman’s Resilient “Litvak” Legacy?’, p. 247.
[23]	Michael Berkowitz, ‘Emma Goldman’s Resilient “Litvak” Legacy?’, p. 248.
[24]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 21.
[25]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 23.
[26]	Olga Vishnyakova, “Russian Nihilism: The Cultural Legacy of the Conflict Between Fathers and Sons”, Comparative and Continental Philosophy, (Vol. 3 No. 1, 2011), p. 103.
[27]	Richard Stites, The Women’s Liberation Movement in Russia: Feminism, Nihilism, and Bolshevism, 1860-1930, (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990), pp. 89-114.
[28]	Philip Forner, History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol. 2: From the Founding of the AFof L to the Emergence of American Imperialism, (New York: International Publishers, 1955).
[29]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 123.
[30]	Nellie Bly, “Nelly Bly Again: She Interviews Emma Goldman and Other Anarchists”, New York World, (September 17, 1893).
[31]	Jacobs did offer to release Goldman and drop all charges on their train ride to New York City if she would turn informant against other anarchists, to which she replied by throwing a glass of water in his face.
[32]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 134.
[33]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 137.
[34]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 138.
[35]	“Hailed Emma Goldman”, the New York World, August 20, 1894.
[36]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 157.
[37]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 161.
[38]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 170.
[39]	It was noted by Paul Bishop in Analytic Psychology and German Classical Aesthetics: Geothe, Schiller, and Jung, Vol. 2: The Constellation of the Self, (New York: Taylor and Francis, 2008) that Sigmund Freud decided to enter medical school after reading Goethe’s Die Natur.
[40]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 173.
[41]	J. Edgar Hoover, “Memorandum for Mr. Creighton,” U. S. Dept. of Justice (23 August 1919).
[42]	Kathy E. Ferguson, “Discourses of Danger: Locating Emma Goldman”, Political Theory, (Vol. 36, No. 5, October 2008), p. 373.
[43]	Clare Hemmings, “Sexual freedom and the promise of revolution: Emma Goldman’s passion,” Feminist Review, (106, February 2014), p. 43.
[44]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 2, p. 553.
[45]	Candice Falk, editor, Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, Volume 3: Light and Shadows, 1910-1916, (Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 2012), pp. 86-87.
[46]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 2, p. 554.
[47]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 2, p. 555.
[48]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 556.
[49]	Emma Goldman, “The Hypocrisy of Puritanism”, (1911), in Anarchism and Other Essays, 2013 Edition, (New York), p. 85.
[50]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 88.
[51]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 89.
[52]	Emma Goldman, “The Traffic in Women”, (1911), in Anarchism and Other Essays, 2013 Edition, (New York), p. 96.
[53]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 97.
[54]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 101.
[55]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 103.
[56]	Emma Goldman, “Women Suffrage”, in Anarchism and Other Essays, (1911), 2013 Edition, (New York), p. 105.
[57]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 108.
[58]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 109.
[59]	2 Kathy E. Ferguson, “Discourses of Danger: Locating Emma Goldman”, Political Theory, (Vol. 36 No. 5, October 2008), p. 738.
[60]	Lori JoMarso, “A Feminist Search for Love: Emma Goldman on the Politics of Marriage, Love, Sexuality, and Feminine”, in Feminist Interpretations of Emma Goldman, Penny Weiss & Loretta Kensinger (editors), (University Park: Pennsylvania State UniversityPress, 2007), p. 73.
[61]	Alice Wexler (1984), Emma Goldman: An Intimate Life, (New York: Pantheon), p. 155.
[62]	Kathy E. Ferguson, op. cit., p. 735.
[63]	Emma Goldman, LML, v. 1, p. 753.
[64]	Clare Hemmings, “Sexual freedom and the promise of revolution: Emma Goldman’s passion”, Feminist Review (No. 16, 2014), pp. 43-59.

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John David Bies. (2019). A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist. History Research, 7(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20190701.12

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John David Bies. A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist. Hist. Res. 2019, 7(1), 7-16. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20190701.12

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John David Bies. A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist. Hist Res. 2019;7(1):7-16. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20190701.12

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@article{10.11648/j.history.20190701.12,
  author = {John David Bies},
  title = {A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist},
  journal = {History Research},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {7-16},
  doi = {10.11648/j.history.20190701.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20190701.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.history.20190701.12},
  abstract = {One of the foremost American anarchists of the early twentieth century was Emma Goldman who fought for the rights of working-class men and women. Upon her arrival in the US from the Lithuanian region of the Tsarist Russian Empire, she immediately became actively involved in the American Anarchist Movement. Initially she professed and involved herself in the violent overthrow of the government and its institutions and the selective assassination of exploitative leaders in industry and government. After her imprisonment, she found another avenue for her anarchical beliefs in the form of women’s issues that included freedom of choice in marriage, and control over decision-making relative to her own body – issues that resonate today. This article, then, analyses her concentrated fight for women egalitarianism that has been described as the first vestiges of Anarcha-feminism. It is argued that her evolution towards feminist causes can be explained via three “Geo-moments” that was used to illustrate how her political beliefs progressed from Russian Nihilism, to violent Anarchism, and finally to Anarcha-feminism. The three Geo-moments employed in this study were: first, her experiences as a young Nihilist under Tsarist Russian rule; second, her arrival in the United States and introduction to American Anarchism; and lastly, her medical training as a nurse at the University of Vienna that gave rise to her views of feminism. As an Anarcha-feminist, she addressed and fought for women’s rights to use birth control to decide how many children they wanted and fought against the female discriminatory aspects of the Comstock Law. In connection to her newly acquired medical education, Goldman has been identified as one of the initial supporters of the LGBT community, their issues and acceptance into society. Lastly, was her founding the founding of the periodical Mother Earth that served as a platform for her fight for female equality.},
 year = {2019}
}

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AU  - John David Bies
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N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20190701.12
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AB  - One of the foremost American anarchists of the early twentieth century was Emma Goldman who fought for the rights of working-class men and women. Upon her arrival in the US from the Lithuanian region of the Tsarist Russian Empire, she immediately became actively involved in the American Anarchist Movement. Initially she professed and involved herself in the violent overthrow of the government and its institutions and the selective assassination of exploitative leaders in industry and government. After her imprisonment, she found another avenue for her anarchical beliefs in the form of women’s issues that included freedom of choice in marriage, and control over decision-making relative to her own body – issues that resonate today. This article, then, analyses her concentrated fight for women egalitarianism that has been described as the first vestiges of Anarcha-feminism. It is argued that her evolution towards feminist causes can be explained via three “Geo-moments” that was used to illustrate how her political beliefs progressed from Russian Nihilism, to violent Anarchism, and finally to Anarcha-feminism. The three Geo-moments employed in this study were: first, her experiences as a young Nihilist under Tsarist Russian rule; second, her arrival in the United States and introduction to American Anarchism; and lastly, her medical training as a nurse at the University of Vienna that gave rise to her views of feminism. As an Anarcha-feminist, she addressed and fought for women’s rights to use birth control to decide how many children they wanted and fought against the female discriminatory aspects of the Comstock Law. In connection to her newly acquired medical education, Goldman has been identified as one of the initial supporters of the LGBT community, their issues and acceptance into society. Lastly, was her founding the founding of the periodical Mother Earth that served as a platform for her fight for female equality.
VL  - 7
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Author Information

John David Bies

Department of History, Political Science, Philosophy & American Studies, University of South Carolina-Upstate, Spartanburg South Carolina, USA

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John David Bies. (2019). A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist. History Research, 7(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20190701.12

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John David Bies. A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist. Hist. Res. 2019, 7(1), 7-16. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20190701.12

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John David Bies. A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist. Hist Res. 2019;7(1):7-16. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20190701.12

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@article{10.11648/j.history.20190701.12,
  author = {John David Bies},
  title = {A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist},
  journal = {History Research},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {7-16},
  doi = {10.11648/j.history.20190701.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20190701.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.history.20190701.12},
  abstract = {One of the foremost American anarchists of the early twentieth century was Emma Goldman who fought for the rights of working-class men and women. Upon her arrival in the US from the Lithuanian region of the Tsarist Russian Empire, she immediately became actively involved in the American Anarchist Movement. Initially she professed and involved herself in the violent overthrow of the government and its institutions and the selective assassination of exploitative leaders in industry and government. After her imprisonment, she found another avenue for her anarchical beliefs in the form of women’s issues that included freedom of choice in marriage, and control over decision-making relative to her own body – issues that resonate today. This article, then, analyses her concentrated fight for women egalitarianism that has been described as the first vestiges of Anarcha-feminism. It is argued that her evolution towards feminist causes can be explained via three “Geo-moments” that was used to illustrate how her political beliefs progressed from Russian Nihilism, to violent Anarchism, and finally to Anarcha-feminism. The three Geo-moments employed in this study were: first, her experiences as a young Nihilist under Tsarist Russian rule; second, her arrival in the United States and introduction to American Anarchism; and lastly, her medical training as a nurse at the University of Vienna that gave rise to her views of feminism. As an Anarcha-feminist, she addressed and fought for women’s rights to use birth control to decide how many children they wanted and fought against the female discriminatory aspects of the Comstock Law. In connection to her newly acquired medical education, Goldman has been identified as one of the initial supporters of the LGBT community, their issues and acceptance into society. Lastly, was her founding the founding of the periodical Mother Earth that served as a platform for her fight for female equality.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Transnational Perspective of Emma Goldman’s Evolution as an Anarcha-Feminist
AU  - John David Bies
Y1  - 2019/08/13
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20190701.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.history.20190701.12
T2  - History Research
JF  - History Research
JO  - History Research
SP  - 7
EP  - 16
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-6719
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20190701.12
AB  - One of the foremost American anarchists of the early twentieth century was Emma Goldman who fought for the rights of working-class men and women. Upon her arrival in the US from the Lithuanian region of the Tsarist Russian Empire, she immediately became actively involved in the American Anarchist Movement. Initially she professed and involved herself in the violent overthrow of the government and its institutions and the selective assassination of exploitative leaders in industry and government. After her imprisonment, she found another avenue for her anarchical beliefs in the form of women’s issues that included freedom of choice in marriage, and control over decision-making relative to her own body – issues that resonate today. This article, then, analyses her concentrated fight for women egalitarianism that has been described as the first vestiges of Anarcha-feminism. It is argued that her evolution towards feminist causes can be explained via three “Geo-moments” that was used to illustrate how her political beliefs progressed from Russian Nihilism, to violent Anarchism, and finally to Anarcha-feminism. The three Geo-moments employed in this study were: first, her experiences as a young Nihilist under Tsarist Russian rule; second, her arrival in the United States and introduction to American Anarchism; and lastly, her medical training as a nurse at the University of Vienna that gave rise to her views of feminism. As an Anarcha-feminist, she addressed and fought for women’s rights to use birth control to decide how many children they wanted and fought against the female discriminatory aspects of the Comstock Law. In connection to her newly acquired medical education, Goldman has been identified as one of the initial supporters of the LGBT community, their issues and acceptance into society. Lastly, was her founding the founding of the periodical Mother Earth that served as a platform for her fight for female equality.
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  -

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