Rootless cosmopolitan

Rootless cosmopolitan (Russian: безродный космополит, romanized: bezrodnyi kosmopolit) was a pejorative Soviet epithet which referred mostly to Jewish intellectuals as an accusation of their lack of allegiance to the Soviet Union, especially during the antisemitic campaign of 1948–1953.^[1] This campaign had its roots in Joseph Stalin's 1946 attack on writers who were connected with "bourgeois Western influences", culminating in the "exposure" of the non-existent Doctors' Plot in 1953.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The term is considered to be an antisemitic trope.^[5]^[6]^[7]

^ Figes, Orlando (2007). The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia. New York City: Metropolitan Books. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-8050-7461-1.
^ Azadovskii, K.; Egorov, B. (2002). "From Anti-Westernism to Anti-Semitism". Journal of Cold War Studies. 4 (1): 66–80. doi:10.1162/152039702753344834. S2CID 57565840.
^ Greenfield, Jeff (3 August 2017). "The Ugly History of Stephen Miller's 'Cosmopolitan' Epithet: Surprise, surprise—the insult has its roots in Soviet anti-Semitism". Politico.
^ "Stalin on Art and Culture". International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union. Retrieved 5 December 2021. In 1946 Stalin met with Soviet intellectuals to discuss and analyze the trends developing in Soviet art, music, literature and theatre – after the Second World War. Here we give a shortened version of his replies to questions posed by the intellectuals. '[...] Frequently in the pages of Soviet literary journals works are found where Soviet people, builders of communism are shown in pathetic and ludicrous forms. The positive Soviet hero is derided and inferior before all things foreign and cosmopolitism that we all fought against from the time of Lenin, characteristic of the political leftovers, is many times applauded. In the theater it seems that Soviet plays are pushed aside by plays from foreign bourgeois authors. The same thing is starting to happen in Soviet films.'
^ Gwynne, Andrew (16 April 2014). "Anti-Semitism". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 255.
^ Glasman, Maurice (22 May 2019). "No direction home: the tragedy of the Jewish left". New Statesman. I knew that the phrase "rootless cosmopolitan" was minted by Stalin and his executioners in the show trials to exterminate Jews, particularly Trotskyists, for whom this became the standard expression. I cannot hear it without the dread fear of the knock on the door by the Cheka in the early hours.
^ Brook, Vincent (2006). You Should See Yourself: Jewish Identity in Postmodern American Culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. p. 166. ISBN 0813538440. This outlook can be viewed positively as a condition that enhances Jews' and adaptability and empathy for others, or it can have a negative connotation, as in the recurring trope of the rootless cosmopolitan

[Figes-1] Figes, Orlando (2007). The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia. New York City: Metropolitan Books. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-8050-7461-1.

[jcsw-2] Azadovskii, K.; Egorov, B. (2002). "From Anti-Westernism to Anti-Semitism". Journal of Cold War Studies. 4 (1): 66–80. doi:10.1162/152039702753344834. S2CID 57565840.

[greenfield-3] Greenfield, Jeff (3 August 2017). "The Ugly History of Stephen Miller's 'Cosmopolitan' Epithet: Surprise, surprise—the insult has its roots in Soviet anti-Semitism". Politico.

[4] "Stalin on Art and Culture". International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union. Retrieved 5 December 2021. In 1946 Stalin met with Soviet intellectuals to discuss and analyze the trends developing in Soviet art, music, literature and theatre – after the Second World War. Here we give a shortened version of his replies to questions posed by the intellectuals. '[...] Frequently in the pages of Soviet literary journals works are found where Soviet people, builders of communism are shown in pathetic and ludicrous forms. The positive Soviet hero is derided and inferior before all things foreign and cosmopolitism that we all fought against from the time of Lenin, characteristic of the political leftovers, is many times applauded. In the theater it seems that Soviet plays are pushed aside by plays from foreign bourgeois authors. The same thing is starting to happen in Soviet films.'

[5] Gwynne, Andrew (16 April 2014). "Anti-Semitism". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 255.

[6] Glasman, Maurice (22 May 2019). "No direction home: the tragedy of the Jewish left". New Statesman. I knew that the phrase "rootless cosmopolitan" was minted by Stalin and his executioners in the show trials to exterminate Jews, particularly Trotskyists, for whom this became the standard expression. I cannot hear it without the dread fear of the knock on the door by the Cheka in the early hours.

[7] Brook, Vincent (2006). You Should See Yourself: Jewish Identity in Postmodern American Culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. p. 166. ISBN 0813538440. This outlook can be viewed positively as a condition that enhances Jews' and adaptability and empathy for others, or it can have a negative connotation, as in the recurring trope of the rootless cosmopolitan

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