Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent

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Summary: Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will
Review: Irving Howe was a 20th century Renaissance man who wrote with conviction and intelligence on three different areas: politics, literature, and Jewish culture. Although he made a living as a college professor for much of his life, most of his diverse and voluminous publications were meant for people outside academia. Howe is perhaps best known as the author of World of Our Fathers: The Journey of the East European Jews to America and the Life They Found and Made, but he was also an editor of and contributor to the journal Dissent for many years, as well as the author of a number of books of literary criticism.

Howe was a socialist. In his youth, he was a Trotskyist, and like many people, his politics became more moderate as he matured. But unlike many others from his generation of leftwing activists - some of whom were supporters of Stalin in their youth and then extreme conservatives later on - Howe remained a firm believer in democratic socialism throughout his adult life. This is not to say that his basic consistency always led him to what seem in retrospect to have been good opinions. In this regard, author Gerald Sorin gives us Irving Howe, warts and all (pardon the cliche). For example, before and even during World War II, Howe viewed that conflict as not much more than a battle between imperialist powers. Howe also fought long and hard with the New Left activists during the 60s - while some 60s radicals probably did think they were the first people to notice that there are problems in America, Howe's response to their arrogance left a lot to be desired. Howe also didn't exactly see the import of the women's movement in its early years. To his credit though, Howe eventually came around somewhat on feminism and was also an early and vocal supporter of the civil rights movement.

Just ten years after his death, many of the socialist ideas and ideals that Irving Howe wrote about seem to have been inspired by convictions that are anachronistic in today's world. Gerald Sorin does a terrific job conjuring up Howe and his world in a way that makes you hopeful that democratic socialism is still something that might just work, if it were given half a chance. Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent is a fine biography of a thoughtful man who believed that the world could be a better, more just place for all people.