Daniel Bensaïd’s Marrano Internationalism

Abstract

Bensaïd’s interest in Marranism is part of his broader interest in Jewish mysticism, read in a profane and secularised way, and of his search for new theoretical paths with which to renew revolutionary Marxist theory. ‘Marrano’ refers to the Spanish–Portuguese Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity in the fifteenth century and who were suspected of judaising in secret. The term has been increasingly used by many authors, including Bensaïd, in a broad sense, often as a metaphor that goes beyond the study of actual Marranos to acquire a broader meaning. Bensaïd uses Marranism to think about some aspects of political strategy and, at the same time, strategically uses Marranism to approach certain debates. The Marrano is the metaphorical and metonymic figure through which he tries to think a new internationalism that simultaneously transcends both an abstract universalism that legitimates inequalities and oppression and an anti-universalist communitarian withdrawal.