2004
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Trajecta
  4. Volume 32, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 32, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0778-8304
  • E-ISSN: 2665-9484
file format pdf download PDF

Abstract

Abstract

This article explores the circulation and evolution of the European discourse of (‘money power’) from 1840 until 1911. During this period, a variety of thinkers used the notion of to express opposing arguments. Academics used the word to capture the power of finance, while activists across the political spectrum used the same notion to offer social critique and voice conspiracy theories. In the period from 1840 to 1911, the concept of , adapted and moulded by authors to fit their individual needs, circulated in the form of books, articles, and pamphlets. Several nineteenth-century German thinkers used the word to contest the civil emancipation of the Jews while others turned to in their critique of contemporary capitalism. From the 1920s onwards, communists and fascists alike appropriated the notion of for their own purposes. As a first examination of the various connotations of the discourse of , the aim of this article is strategic rather than exhaustive. Its main contribution takes the form of a diachronic analysis of the term as used by the Dutch journalist, Protestant theologian, and prime minister of the Netherlands (1901–1905) Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920). As a Protestant theologian and political thinker, Kuyper was extremely interested in the role Jews played in European societies. Although he sometimes used the notion of to contest contemporary capitalism, he mostly used the term to accuse Jews of exercising excessive political influence. Kuyper’s use of the word sheds light on the broader contours of the European discourse at the time, for example, as articulated by Bruno Bauer and Karl Marx in their discussions of Jewish wealth in the 1840s. Such ideas, reworked in the 1870s to polemicise against Otto von Bismarck, were then adapted by Kuyper to fit his own needs. Kuyper’s writings thus not only shed light on a local debate in the Netherlands, but also function as a lens to understand the complex European genealogy of the discourse of A (‘conceptual history’) of Kuyper’s statements on the German sources he may have used, and an analysis of the reception his work received, reveals how the fear of anonymous financial markets often mingled with an antisemitic distrust of a distinctive minority.

© Gertjan Schutte. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/TRA2023.1.001.SCHU
2024-08-01
2024-12-03
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/07788304/32/1/TRA2023.1.001.SCHU.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5117/TRA2023.1.001.SCHU&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit, Kuyper Archief, inv.no. 132–370. Letter Eduard Pool in ‘Brievenboek’, November1904–October1910.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. De Standaard, Amsterdam, 1872-1947.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Anon, Die Protokolle der Weisen von Zion und die jüdische Weltpolitik. N.p., 1933.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Anon, Lesebuch für die Kapitulantenschulen, Ersten Theil. Berlin, 1878.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bauer, Bruno, Die Judenfrage. Braunschweig, 1843.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Graetz, Heinrich, Geschichte der Juden. Geschichte der Juden von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart. Elfter band. Leipzig, 1870.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Grimm, Gustav, Was haben wir von der Emancipation der Juden zu fürchten?Pesth, 1848.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Kuyper, Abraham, Common Grace: God’s Gifts for a Fallen World: The Practical Section, ed. Jordan J.Ballor and J.Daryl Charles, trans. Nelson D.Kloosterman and Ed M.van der Maas, vol. 3. Bellingham, WA, 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. De Christus en de sociale nooden, en Democratische klippen. Amsterdam, 1895.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. De hedendaagsche schriftcritiek: In haar bedenkelijke strekking voor de gemeente des levenden Gods. Amsterdam, 1881.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. De gemeene gratie, deel 3: Het praktische gedeelte. Amsterdam, 1904.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. E voto Dordraceno: Toelichting op den Heidelbergschen catechismus. Vierde deel. Amsterdam, 1895.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Evolutie: Rede, bij de overdracht van het rectoraat aan de Vrije Universiteit op 20 oktober 1899. Amsterdam, 1899.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Gomer voor den Sabbath: Meditatiën over en voor den Sabbath. Amsterdam, 1889.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Het Calvinisme: Zes Stone-lezingen, in October 1898 in Princeton N.J. gehouden. Amsterdam, 1899.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Lectures on Calvinism: Six Lectures Delivered at Princeton University Under Auspices of the L.P. Stone Foundation. Grand Rapids, 1931.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Liberalisten en Joden. Amsterdam, 1878.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Maranatha: Rede ter inleiding van de deputaten-vergadering. Gehouden te Utrecht op 12 mei 1891. Amsterdam, 1891.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Om de oude wereldzee, 2 delen. Amsterdam, 1907–1908.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Ons Program. Amsterdam, 1878.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Pro rege of Het koningschap van Christus, eerste deel. Kampen, 1911.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. ‘Strikt genomen.’ Het recht tot Universiteitsstichting staatsrechtelijk en historisch getoetst. Amsterdam, 1880.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Marx, Karl, ‘Zur Judenfrage’, in: KarlMarx and ArnoldRuge (eds.), Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher (Paris, 1844), 182–214.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Megner, Philipp, Das Judenthum und die Emanzipation der Juden. Würzburg, 1849.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Nieuwenhuis, Domela, ‘Ten zegen of tot schade?’, in: De Banier (Haarlem, 1878).
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Perrot, Franx and Philippvon Nathusius-Ludom, Die Aera Bleichröder-Delbrück-Champhausen. Berlin, 1876.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Pinkert, Alexander, Die Judenfrage gegenüber dem deutschen Handel und Gewerbe: Ein Manifest an die Deutsche Nation. Dresden, 1879.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Pleyer, Kleo, ‘Das Judentum in der Kapitalistischen Wirtschaft’, in: Forschungen zur Judenfrage. Band 2 (Hamburg, 1937), 154–169.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Poschinger, H. von, Bankwesen und Bankpolitik in Preusen: Nach amtlichen Quellen bearbeitet. Ersten band, von der ältesten Zeit bis zum Jahre 1846. Berlin, 1878.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Prins, Pieter, ‘Hitler’-regiem en religie. Aalten, 1934.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Sombart, Werner, Die Juden und das Wirtschaftsleben. Leipzig, 1911.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Stöcker, Adolf, Christlich-Sozial. Reden und Aufsätze. Bielefeld, 1885.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Wamelinck, J.H.H., Groen van Prinsterer, Dr. Kuyper en Mussert. Leiden, 1941.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Weinberg, Max, ‘Von der Geldmacht der Juden’, in: Israelitische Wochen Schrift für die religiösen und socialen Interessen des Judentums (Magdeburg, 1879).
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Beck, Hermann, The Fateful Alliance: German Conservatives and Nazis in 1933. The Machtergreifung in a New Light. New York, 2008.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Benz, Wolfgang (ed.), Handbuch der Antisemitismus. Judenfeindschaft in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Band 2/1: Personen. Berlin, 2009.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Blom, Hans, ‘Species hollandia judaica’, in: RemcoEnsel (ed.), Sjacheren met stereotypen: Essays over ‘de jood’ als sjabloon (Amsterdam, 2016).
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Born, Karl Erich, ‘Preußen im deutschen Kaiserreich 1871–1918: Führungsmacht des Reiches und Aufgehen im Reich’, in: WolfgangNeugebauer (ed.), Handbuch der Preussischen Geschichte, Band III. Vom Kaiserreich zum 20. Jahrhundert und Große Themen der Geschichte Preußens (Berlin, 2001), 15–148.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Bratt, James, Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian democrat. Grand Rapids, 2013.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Bruijn, Jan de, De sabel van Colijn: Biografische opstellen over religie en politiek in Nederland. Hilversum, 2011.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Bruijne, Ad de, ‘Abraham Kuyper’s surprising Love of the Jews.’Journal of Reformed Theology, 11 (2017), 24–46.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Brunner, Otto (ed.), Geschichliche Grundbegriffe historisches Lexikon zur politischsozialen Sprache in Deutschland. Bd. 2, E-G. Stuttgart, 1975.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Clark, Christopher, ‘German Jews’, in: RainerLiedtke and StephanWendehorst (eds.), The Emancipation of Catholics, Jews and Protestants: Minorities and the Nation-State in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Manchester, 1999), 122–147.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Harinck, George, ‘Bittersweet: Abraham Kuyper’s View on Jews in Relation to the Reception of Gerhard Kittel’s View in Neo-Calvinist Circles in the Netherlands’, in: LukasBormann and Arie W.Zwiep (eds.), Auf dem Weg zu einer Biographie Gerhard Kittels (1888–1948) (Tübingen, 2022), 339–365.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Hartson, Barnet, Sensationalizing the Jewish Question: Anti-Semitic Trials and the Press in the Early German Empire. Leiden, 2005.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Kater, Lodewijk, ‘Either Mammon or the Messiah? The Christian-Social tradition in the Netherlands and Germany on the Jewish Question, 1875–1914.’Trajecta: Religion, Culture and Society in the Low Countries, 28 (2019), 23–44.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Klinken, G. J. van, ‘Abraham Kuyper and the ‘Jewish Question’’’, in: Cornelisvan der Kooi and Jande Bruijn (eds.), Kuyper Reconsidered: Aspects of His Life and Work (Amsterdam, 1999), 293–298.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Koch, Jeroen, Abraham Kuyper: Een biografie. Amsterdam, 2006.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Lange, Matthew, Antisemitic Elements in the Critique of Capitalism in German Culture, 1850–1933. Bern, 2007.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Nirenberg, David, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition. New York, 2014.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Pflanze, Otto, Bismarck: Der Reichskanzler. München, 1998.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Quispel, Chris, Anti-Joodse beeldvorming en Jodenhaat: De geschiedenis van het antisemitisme in West-Europa. Hilversum, 2015.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Schöffer, Ivo, ‘Abraham Kuyper and the Jews’, in: JosephMichman and TirtsahLevie (eds.), Dutch Jewish History: Proceedings of the Symposium on the History of the Jews in the Netherlands November 28–December 3, 1982, Tel Aviv – Jerusalem (Jerusalem, 1984), 237–259.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Snel, Johan, De zeven levens van Abraham Kuyper: Portret van een ongrijpbaar staatsman. Amsterdam, 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Trivellato, Francesca, The Promise and Peril of Credit: What a Forgotten Legend about Jews and Finance Tells Us about the Making of European Commercial Society. Princeton, 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Wallet, Bart, Christendom en antisemitisme: Tweeduizend jaar confrontatie. Utrecht, 2017.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Weringh, Jacob van, Het maatschappijbeeld van Abraham Kuyper. Assen, 1967.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Wyrwa, Ulrich, ‘Franz Fürchtegott Perrot’, in: WolfgangBenz, et al. (ed.), Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Judenfeindschaft in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Band 2/1 Personen A-K (Berlin, 2009), 626–627.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.5117/TRA2023.1.001.SCHU
Loading
The European Discourse of Geldmacht: Anti-Capitalism, Stereotypes of Jews, and Abraham Kuyper, 1844–1911
TRA 32, 1 (2024); https://doi.org/10.5117/TRA2023.1.001.SCHU
/content/journals/10.5117/TRA2023.1.001.SCHU
/content/journals/10.5117/TRA2023.1.001.SCHU
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Keyword(s): Abraham Kuyper; antisemitism; capitalism; Jews; Karl Marx

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error