Julius Jacobson (1922 – March 8, 2003) was an American

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

writer and editor who edited ''Anvil,'' ''New International,'' and '' New Politics'', all publications in the

Third Camp The third camp, also known as third camp socialism or third camp Trotskyism, is a branch of socialism that aims to oppose both capitalism and Stalinism by supporting the organised working class as a "third camp". The term arose early during W ...

tradition of socialism, a democratic

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

tradition sometimes called "

Shachtmanite Shachtmanism is the form of Marxism associated with Max Shachtman (1904–1972). It has two major components: a bureaucratic collectivist analysis of the Soviet Union and a third camp approach to world politics. Shachtmanites believe that the ...

" after its significant theorist,

Max Shachtman Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany. Beginnings S ...

Biography

Jacobson came from an East European

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrant family in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The family was politically

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

and he was politically active at a very young age, first joining the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YC ...

, but soon leaving that group for the Young People's Socialist League of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

, where he became a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

and met his wife

Phyllis Jacobson Phyllis Jacobson (1922 – March 2, 2010) was an American socialist. Together with her lifetime political and personal partner Julius Jacobson, she co-edited the independent left journal '' New Politics'' from the 1960s until the end of the 20th ...

. Drafted into military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he saw combat in Europe and participated in the

liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Germ ...

. While in Europe, he participated in contact between European and American

Trotskyists Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

. An early ally of

and

Hal Draper Hal Draper (born Harold Dubinsky; September 19, 1914 – January 26, 1990) was an American socialist activist and author who played a significant role in the Berkeley, California, Free Speech Movement. He is known for his extensive scholarship on t ...

, he followed them out of the Socialist Workers Party and with them was one of the founding members of the Workers Party, later known as the Independent Socialist League, eventually becoming editor of its journal ''New International''. Like Hal Draper, Jacobson was opposed to the merger of the ISL into the

and to Shachtman's drift toward the right politically. Unlike Draper, he did not turn his energies toward creating a new socialist group, but rather into the creation of an independent journal, '' New Politics'', in 1961, together with

. He remained active as a writer and editor of ''New Politics'' up until his death in 2003. In addition to his work published in ''Anvil'', ''New International'' and ''New Politics'', Jacobson contributed to the following books:
The American Communist Party. A critical history, 1919-1957
' (pub 1957 with

Irving Howe Irving Howe (; June 11, 1920 – May 5, 1993) was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America. Early years Howe was born as Irving Horenstein in The Bronx, New York. He was the son o ...

and

Lewis Coser Lewis Alfred Coser (27 November 1913 in Berlin – 8 July 2003 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a German-American sociologist, serving as the 66th president of the American Sociological Association in 1975. Biography Born in Berlin as Ludwig Co ...

), ''The Negro and the American Labor Movement'' (1968), ''Soviet Communism and the Socialist Vision'' (1972) and ''Socialist Perspectives'' (1983, with Phyllis Jacobson).

External links

New Politics

Socialist Worker - Obituary: Julius Jacobson

Against the Current - Julius Jacobson (1922-2003)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobson, Julius 1922 births 2003 deaths Jewish American military personnel Members of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) Members of the Workers Party (United States) Jewish socialists American military personnel of World War II American expatriates in France

Biography

See also

External links