GemThe Correspondence Between the German Socialist Joseph Bloch and the American Socialist Morris Hillquit on the Issue of International Labour Migration

Abstract

In this contribution to the JMH’s series on ‘Gems’, the correspondence from 1908 between the German socialist Joseph Bloch and the American socialist Morris Hillquit on the issue of international labour migration is central. As both men were part of the international socialist community – at the time organised in the Second International (1889-1914) – the source provides an insight into how international migration was discussed within the Left in this period. Though officially, the Second International took in an ‘internationalist’ position on migration, the correspondence between Bloch and Hillquit demonstrates that there were also nativist currents present within the organisation. Furthermore, the source in exemplary for the broader international exchange of migration-related ideas taking place at the time, which contributed to the worldwide standardization of border practices.