Malachi H. Hacohen
· Professor of HistoryDuke University · History
Active 1996–2024
About
Malachi H. Hacohen, Ph.D. from Columbia University, is a Bass Fellow and Professor of History, Religion, and German Studies at Duke University. He serves as the Director of the Religions and Public Life Initiative at the Kenan Institute for Ethics and is a member of the faculties of Jewish Studies and Slavic and Eurasian Studies. His teaching focuses on intellectual history and Jewish European history. Hacohen's research interests include social theory, political philosophy, and rabbinic culture, with a particular emphasis on Central Europe. He explores themes such as the Central European Jewish intelligentsia, nation state versus empire in Jewish European history, and Jewish–Christian relations. His work examines science and culture in Vienna, international networks of European Jewish émigrés, and trans-Atlantic Cold War liberalism. Hacohen has authored notable works including 'Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902-1945,' which received the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize and the Victor Adler- Staatspreis, and is working on 'Jacob & Esau: Jewish European History Between Nation and Empire,' a comprehensive account of two millennia of Jewish European history. He has held fellowships at prestigious institutions such as the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, and the National Humanities Center. Additionally, he has led international research initiatives on Empire, Socialism, and Jews, and actively participates in academic seminars and editorial boards.
Research topics
- Sociology
- Political Science
- Philosophy
- Religious studies
- Theology
- Computer Science
- Law
- History
- Epistemology
- Aesthetics
Selected publications
Austrian Identity and the Modern Life of Empire
2024-12-17
other1st authorCorrespondingThe Talmud in Contemporary Culture
2023-01-01
other1st authorCorrespondingFOREWORD: Roma, Jews and European History
Berghahn Books · 2022-09-20
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingAgassi and Popper on Nationalism – and Beyond
Philosophy of the Social Sciences · 2022 · 1 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Sociology
- Political Science
- Epistemology
Popper and Agassi diverged on nationalism. Popper was a trenchant critic whereas Agassi formed a theory of liberal nationalism. At the root of their disagreement was Popper’s refusal of Jewish identity and rejection of Zionism, in contrast with Agassi’s affirmation of progressive Jewishness and liberal Zionism. Both Agassi and Popper, however, rejected ethnonationalism. To hedge against it, they ignored the claims of ethnocultural communities. This essay will highlight Agassi’s liberal theory of the nation state but urge that we overcome Critical Rationalists’ instinctive aversion to ethnicity, and accommodate ethnocultural communities. We should also explore again both Popper’s democratic imperialism and cosmopolitan diasporas, to think a future beyond nationalism.
Chapter 7 POPPER’S COSMOPOLITANISM Culture Clash and Jewish Identity
Berghahn Books · 2022-10-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingA Rabbi Among the Apostates? Josef Schächter and Religion in the Vienna Circle
Vienna Circle Institute yearbook · 2022 · 2 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Sociology
- Theology
- Religious studies
Berghahn Books · 2020-02-03
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingThe Jewishness of Cold War Liberalism
Springer eBooks · 2020 · 3 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Political Science
- Sociology
- Religious studies
New York University Press eBooks · 2020
Senior authorCorresponding- Computer Science
- Computer Science
Annali di Storia delle università italiane · 2020-01-01
article1st authorCorresponding
Frequent coauthors
- 32 shared
Cynthia Herrup
- 32 shared
David A. Miller
Pennsylvania State University
- 32 shared
Linda Orr
Syracuse University
- 32 shared
Stanley Chojnacki
- 32 shared
Valeria Finucci
- 32 shared
Terrence W. Tilley
- 32 shared
J. Watson
University of Florida
- 32 shared
Dale B. Martin
Awards & honors
- Herbert Baxter Adams Prize of the AHA
- Victor Adler- Staatspreis (Austrian state-prize)
- Frederick Burkhardt Fellowship from the ACLS
- Fulbright Fellowship
- Mellon Fellowship
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