Antisemitism is fun. This essay explains why and proposes a new approach to combating it.

Even if theoretical and empirical research on antisemitism has been making further progress in recent decades, the findings associated with this expertise in social sciences do not represent a specific point of reference for contemporary approaches to Critical Social Theory. This assessment is surprising for at least two reasons. Firstly, with the intention to shed light on the internal relationship between manifestations of antisemitism and the structures of modern liberal or fascist societies the early tradition of the Frankfurt (...) School had explicitly placed a critical analyzation of it at the center of its research program in the 1930s and 1940s. Secondly, it can be stated that intersectional approaches as well as the critique of structural forms of racism have already come into focus of interest for Critical Social Theory. However, this has been largely done without critically addressing antisemitism as a specific and relevant phenomenon of contemporary societies. In the following, this article shows that this non-thematization can be explained by highlighting some misdirected premises in the newer critical conceptions concerning the social structures of domination and oppression as well as to reductionists approaches to racism which miss to address the specific characteristics of antisemitism. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to synthesize existing knowledge in a novel way by looking through a social psychological lens at historical manifestations of antisemitism and its most recent variant, presented as a case study which tracks its development and compares it with the core demonology of antisemitism. By reviewing literature representing many different disciplines, focusing particularly on history, theology and social psychology, the article aims to bridge disciplinary gaps, making social psychological insights on inter-group relations and (...) social identities accessible to scholars in other fields and thus foster a cross-disciplinary dialogue on antisemitism. Linguistic “innovation” has been needed whenever an existing variety becomes politically incorrect, which, on the individual level, may give rise to a denial that the new variety is antisemitism. It is concluded that compared to other racisms applied research is still needed to fill the existing lacuna to find remedies for antisemitism. (shrink)

This essay has two parts, each that was published earlier in different forms. The first, titled “How Critical Race Theory Can Be Antisemitic,” discusses how the current UUA’s dogmatic application of critical race theory as the only lens to view society is antisemitic. The second, titled “How Intolerance, Censorship, and Dogmatism Make Unitarian Universalism Increasingly Unwelcoming to Jews,” explains how Judaism and Jewish culture are about questioning, diversity of views, dissent, and debate—all things traditionally associated with UU—and how any space (...) that is dogmatic and illiberal will be unwelcoming to most Jews. (shrink)

Spanish fascists held power for a lengthy period, yet their antisemitism remains underresearched. This article, drawing on periodicals and archival documentation, specifically examines the early years of the Falange until 1945. The period was characterised by a significant surge in antisemitic sentiment in Spain, accompanied by a growing presence of the alleged ‘Judaeo-Masonic conspiracy’. Representing the first in-depth approach in English, the text is divided into four parts. The first serves as an introduction to the outbreak of antisemitism (...) and conspiracy theories within the political cultures of the Spanish illiberal right following the advent of democracy in 1931. The second focuses on fascism and its four most prominent figures up to 1936. The third analyses the Falange’s pronounced antisemitism during the Spanish Civil War, exploring both its internal and external influences. The fourth and final part addresses the fervently antisemitic stance of the Falange during the decisive years of the Second World War, navigating the tensions between Nazi antisemitic racism and Catholic anti-racist antisemitism. (shrink)

This article introduces the concept of postsecular antisemitism to name a condition in which prevailing frameworks struggle to register antisemitic harm that operates through the entanglement of religious and secular grammars. It argues that the assumption of normative separability between religious and secular domains, inherited from the secularization thesis and only partially challenged by the postsecular turn, continues to pre-structure what becomes legible within social theory. To develop this argument, the article stages a comparison between early and late Critical (...) Theory. Whereas Horkheimer and Adorno refused to separate religious and secular elements into discrete explanatory domains, Habermas's influential postsecular approach assumes their normative separability even as the secularization prediction is abandoned. Drawing on recent cases of digital antisemitism, which make religious–secular entanglement visible, the article shows the limits of Habermas's procedural model and extends it through a constellational reconstruction of Adorno's approach. The analysis demonstrates how antisemitic harm can be displaced from critical scrutiny through its assignment across the religious–secular divide, clarifying how classificatory distinctions organize a gap between harm and the frameworks meant to register it. In doing so, it opens onto a broader reorientation of social theory beyond inherited assumptions of religious–secular separability. (shrink)

Review of Lars Rensmann. 2017. The Politics of Unreason. The Frankfurt School and the Origins of Modern Antisemitism. Albany: State University of New York Press.

This article is a critical genealogy of Tay, an artificial-intelligence chatbot that Microsoft released on Twitter in 2016, which was quickly hijacked by internet trolls to reproduce racist, misogynist, and antisemitic language. Tay’s repetition and production of hate speech calls for an approach that draws on both media and cultural theory—the Frankfurt School’s dialectical analyses of language and ideology, in particular. Revisiting the Frankfurt School in the age of algorithmic reason shows that, contrary to views foundational to computing, a neural-network (...) chatbot like Tay does not sidestep meaning but rather carries and alters it, with unforeseen social and political consequences. A return to the work of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno thus locates ideology in the digital world at the nexus of language’s ability to mean, language and meaning’s susceptibility to computation, and the design of a machine to compute both. Coming to critical terms with the antisemitism produced in Tay’s human-computer synthesis requires, as this article contends, addressing the uncanny embodiment and reflection of thought that is digital computation. (shrink)

This article investigates the complex relationship between racism and antisemitism, advocating for an intersectional approach that highlights their distinct yet interconnected nature. The author critiques the tendency to subsume antisemitism under racism, arguing that such simplification overlooks unique aspects of antisemitism, particularly in contexts where it manifests through anti-Israel resentment. Drawing on a materialist tradition influenced by Marxist thought and the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, the article explores how both ideologies serve to mask social and (...) economic contradictions in society. The concept of the ‘intersectionality of ideologies’ is introduced, allowing for a nuanced understanding that disentangles antisemitism from racism while examining their interconnections. This framework enables a deeper exploration of the socio-economic factors sustaining both ideologies. Additionally, the article addresses misconceptions surrounding the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA’s) definition of antisemitism, clarifying that it does not inhibit legitimate criticism of Israeli politics but instead distinguishes between criticism and resentment. Ultimately, the author emphasizes that racism and antisemitism require tailored analytical tools to effectively grasp their complexities and socio-political implications. (shrink)

Antisemitism precedes the Holocaust, shapes the Holocaust, and outlives the Holocaust. Antisemitism provides a cultural and ethical underlayment for the stages of genocide identifiable in the Holocaust. Antisemitism was present before the Nazis came to power, and it is still prevalent in the twenty first century. To say antisemitism is a hatred is to recognize that hate can and does have many targets, and Jews are simply one target of hate. Racism can manifest itself in several (...) forms such as the Christian doctrine of supersessionism or institutional racism. Once institutional racism becomes socially entrenched, it is difficult to exorcise. Hence, we must remain on guard against this seminal source of genocidal hate. Speaking metaphorically antisemitism like other racisms is an ember that remains alive in the post-Holocaust era. (shrink)

_Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Interreligious Hermeneutics: Ways of Seeing the Religious Other_ examines the hermeneutics of interreligious encounter, investigating the implicit judgments of Judaism and Islam that often arise in contexts of conflict.

Ingo Elbe critically discusses the field of postcolonial studies and points out inconsistencies as well as similar patterns of argumentation discerned within the discourse. Elbe specifically identifies a systematic connection of five moments, which he discusses under the following classifications: the despecification of antisemitism, the relativization of the Shoa, the demonization of Israel, the postmodern disposal of Judaism and the postcolonial view of the hatred of the ‘Other.’ For his analysis, Elbe undertakes a close reading of key postcolonial arguments (...) and interprets them in the context of contemporary identity politics. (shrink)

19. yüzyıl, Avrupa’da siyasi, sosyal ve ekonomik açıdan önemli değişikliklerin meydana geldiği bir dönemdir. Bu dönemde, bir taraftan mevcut düzenin değişmesine yönelik devrimci, özgürlükçü ve milliyetçi girişimler gerçekleşirken diğer taraftan dünyayı ve varlıkları anlamada daha önce var olan dinî bakış açısına alternatif olarak seküler bir bakış açısı gelişmiştir. Doğayı ve canlıları, akıl ve bilim yoluyla değerlendiren bu yeni bakış açısı, önce ırk teorilerini, ardından bilimsel ırkçılığı ve nihayetinde antisemitizmi ortaya çıkarmıştır. Bu dönemde Avrupa, eski ile yeni karşıtlığına dayalı bir düzen (...) problemiyle karşılaşmıştır. Avrupa’daki yeni gelişmeler karşısında mevcut düzeni koruma taraftarı olanlar, antisemitizmi bir araç olarak kullanmıştır. Bu yaklaşım tarzı bir süre sonra Rusya’ya taşınmıştır. Çok sayıda Yahudi’ye ev sahipliği yapan, siyasi, sosyal ve ekonomik problemler yaşayan Rusya, Avrupalılarla benzer bir yöntem izleyerek antisemitizmi araçsallaştırmış ve bir propaganda metni olan Siyon Liderlerinin Protokolleri’ni üretmiştir. Bu girişim gerçekleştirilirken daha önce Avrupa’da yaygınlaşmış olan Yahudi komplosu literatüründen faydalanılmıştır. Yahudilerin Yahudi olmayanlara düzenlendikleri bir komplo olarak sunulan Siyon Liderlerinin Protokolleri, dünyadaki en önemli ve en popüler antisemit propaganda metnidir. Onun bu önemi ve popülerliği, doğru zamanda ve etkili yöntemlerle sunulmasından kaynaklanmaktadır. Toplumsal bunalımların yaşandığı sıralarda korku psikolojisi üzerinden yaygınlaştırılan Protokoller, bu yöntem sayesinde pek çok insan tarafından gerçek bir metin olarak algılanmış ve onların Yahudilere yönelik bakış açısını yönlendirmiştir. Protokoller, Rusya’da monarşi karşıtlarını bastırmak ve Çar rejimini devam ettirmek amacıyla kullanılmıştır. Ancak monarşinin Bolşevikler tarafından yıkılması ve Çarın ailesiyle birlikte öldürülmesi, ABD ve Avrupa’da Bolşevizm korkusu oluşturmuş, bu korku Protokollerin bu bölgelerde yaygınlaşmasına neden olmuştur. Protokoller, ABD ve Avrupa’dan sonra hatalı bir yaklaşımın sonucunda Türkiye’de de ortaya çıkmıştır. Türkiye’nin Yahudilere yönelik yaklaşımı bu ülkelerden farklı olsa da antisemitizmin ve Protokollerin sahip olduğu anlamların kavranamaması, Türkiye’yi de haksız bir şekilde onlarla aynı kategoriye yerleştirmiştir. Türkiye’nin böyle bir kategoriye yerleştirilmesi, onun Yahudilere yönelik hoşgörülü tavrının antisemitizmin gölgesine düşmesine neden olmuştur. Bu çalışmada, Rusya’da Siyon Liderlerinin Protokolleri’ne neden ihtiyaç duyulduğu, nasıl ortaya çıktığı, içeriğinin ne olduğu, nerelerde yaygınlaştığı ve Türkiye’de hangi hataların sonucunda ortaya çıktığı sorularına cevap verilmiştir. Bu sorulara cevap verilirken Protokollerin anlamı, kapsamı ve sonuçlarının Türkiye’nin dışında olduğu, Türkiye’de bu metne ihtiyaç olmadığı ve Yahudilere yönelik eleştirilerde bu metinden kaçınılması gerektiği üzerinde durulmuş, Türk-Yahudi ilişkilerinin antisemitizminden farklı olan boyutuna dikkat çekilmek amaçlanmıştır. (shrink)

I apply the apparatus of my book Definition (2021) to the task of defining antisemitism. An initial stipulation introduced the word ‘Semitismus’ into the German language as a synonym for ‘Judenthum’ (‘Jewishness’). I raise two objections to this stipulation. First, the choice of term risked what Ennis calls ‘impact equivocation’, since it could easily be misunderstood as referring to characteristics common to all speakers of Semitic languages, including Arabic as well as Hebrew. Second, the stipulator’s use of either name (...) assumed falsely that all Jews share the described characteristics. I use a sample of 10 sentences to evaluate 11 proposed reportive (i.e., descriptive, or lexicographical) definitions of the term ‘antisemitism’. I rephrase the resulting tentative definition in the Natural Semantic Language developed by Goddard and Wierzbicka. I then consider two documents that advocate a meaning for ‘antisemitism’, in the sense that they take a position on what kinds of speech or action count as antisemitic. The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, issued by a group of researchers in 2021, is superior in many respects to the resolution on antisemitism adopted in May 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Hence individuals and organizations concerned with monitoring antisemitism should use the Jerusalem Declaration as a guide rather than the IHRA resolution. Consideration of the declaration leads to a revised reportive definition: Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility, or violence that targets people or institutions regarded as ethnically Jewish, just because they are Jewish. (shrink)

In this text I examine the online presence of antisemitism and the ways it is spreading on a global level. I focus on different forms of antisemitism, distributed through numerous social network platforms. I also dwell on the possible causes of this phenomenon, with all its consequences. Antisemitism has always been present in public discourse, and thus its presence in online space is not new or unusual, but what surprises is certainly a significant failure of responsible institutions (...) to prevent this phenomenon and punish perpetrators. In the last ten years, the level of online antisemitism has significantly risen. Covert and overt types of antisemitism on social networks represent a serious social problem, and a threat directed not only towards the Jewish community, but also towards every society that fosters the values of human rights, equality, peaceful communication and non-violence in all its forms. (shrink)

While it is now common for people on the Right to criticize people on the Left for censoring speech and trying to cancel people with whom they do not agree, it is evident that many activists on the Right engage in the very same tactics. As I demonstrate, this effort to shame and condemn the other side is structured by an imaginary, split world where political beliefs are presented in a polarized manner. Moreover, by sharing some of the same unconscious (...) defense mechanisms, people on the Left and Right tend to get locked into a dual relationship of demonization and idealization. To further clarify how the Right has appropriated political, psychological, and rhetorical tactics from the Left, I examine David Horowitz’ The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America and recent debates over the relation between antisemitism and free speech. (shrink)

Despite Spinoza’s prominence in Joyce’s Ulysses, almost nothing in the Joyce Industry’s hundred years has been written about him. My first section reviews three exceptions to this trend, which view the character Leopold Bloom as modeled on Spinoza’s (1) life, (2) redefinition of prophecy, and (3) the “attribute” of thought thinking thought. My second section follows a fourth Joycean to the Marxist Antonio Negri’s essay on Spinozist freedom and Joyce, from which I derive a fourth figure of Bloom as (4) (...) a liberating prosthesis for infinite democracy. And my final section applies my previous interpretation of Spinoza’s “intuition” as poetry to Ulysses, interpreted as an epic prose poem where Joyce as a Spinozist God poly-conjugationally persecutes a poly-subjugated Bloom, including with pervasive antisemitism, thus making Ulysses more satirical Inferno than happy Divine Comedy. However, strategically channeling Spinoza and his philosophy more powerfully into Bloom renders him an ethically-politically Stoic hero, defiantly prophesizing a democratization of Joycean conjugation, from persecuting poly-subjugated Others to joyful self-conjugating in search of radical democracy and just peace. (shrink)

This article explores different readings of antisemitism in French political discourses since 1967 and in light of the ongoing war in Gaza. Drawing on literature that explores modern manifestations and evolving definitions of antisemitism, it explores arguments made for and reservations against the putative equivalence between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. First, while also exploring shifts in French Jewish identity, especially in its relation to the state of Israel, the article critically engages with the recentering of 1967 and the (...) Six-Day War in the recent historiography of antisemitism in France and brings forward questions of audience and historical responsibility. The second section questions the “new antisemitism” and its roots in French Jewish identity. The final section challenges definitions of anti-Zionism, highlights the danger of alienating French Muslims in the name of protecting French Jews, and explores the promise of a “principled” anti-Zionism. (shrink)

In autumn 1962 Theodor W. Adorno gave a lecture on fighting antisemitism to the German Coordinating Council of Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, a lecture that remains as topical and urgent today as it was in the 1960s. After the Second World War, Germany was grappling with a reluctance to admit collective guilt for the horrors of the Holocaust and German society was witnessing the emergence of various forms of hidden or ‘crypto’ antisemitism. In his lecture Adorno demonstrated that (...) antisemitism is a central and essential element of right-wing extremism and is identical in structure to racism. It is accompanied by an authoritarian mindset and a conformist anti-intellectualism. Moreover, a classic trick used by anti-Semites is to protest against taboos which prevent them from freely spreading their hate by classing them as a form of persecution, and to present themselves as victims of it. The only antidote to this poison is an unwavering loyalty to the truth in dealing with historical and political realities. Adorno advocates an anti-authoritarian programme to prevent antisemitic character development and advises taking firm action against outbreaks of antisemitic behaviour. His brilliant analysis of the sources and dangers of antisemitism is as relevant now as it was sixty years ago. (shrink)

I establish two contrasting results: In his first career as surgeon, François Quesnay was antisemitic.Nothing allows to say that his economic system was antisemitic. Very few antisemitic remarks are found in the plethora of books and articles written by his pupils.

This special issue examines conspiracist antisemitic print culture in the Nordic countries from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. To contrast the universal patterns and particularities of the cases of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the issue includes two contributions analysing Spain and Britain. Together, the articles provide empirical in-depth knowledge of the character and dissemination of conspiracist antisemitism in a particular time and within a particular region. Our aim is to expand (...) the general knowledge of conspiracism as a _historical_ phenomenon through the prism of antisemitism. In the introduction, we present the conditions of historical antisemitism in each case study as well as the conceptual framework of this issue, focusing on terms such as _conspiracism_, _conspiracy_ and _conspiracy theories_. We argue that antisemitism can be interpreted as a _longue-durée_ conspiracist tradition, marked by a dialectic interaction between continuity and dynamic changes. (shrink)

Bruno Bauer (1809–1882) is neither a well known nor an easily accessible author.1 Despite playing a significant role in both the evolution of Hegelianism and in nineteenth century controversies abo...

Hace tiempo se avisó de la existencia de antisemitismo también en círculos progresistas. Se trata de grupos sociales más sensibles por el carácter estructural de la discriminación y con alta simpatía para poblaciones vulnerables y que siguen la lógica posestructuralista de la crítica al poder. No obstante, en vez de incluir la comprensión del carácter estructural de la discriminación antisemita dentro de las actividades progresistas, parece existir una resistencia específica frente a la autocrítica respecto al tema del antisemitismo que defiere (...) fundamentalmente del trato de otras formas de discriminación. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo explorar las razones por las que la comprensión del antisemitismo como discriminación estructural no ha podido penetrar en debates académicos y sociales —tal como han penetrado en estos debates la comprensión del carácter estructural del sexismo o del racismo— más allá de los círculos de los estudiosos del antisemitismo. Para ello presentaré en la primera parte algunos elementos de la lógica estructural discursiva del antisemitismo. Exploraré en la segunda parte condiciones sociales estructurales que favorecen la percepción de la realidad según una cosmovisión antisemita. En la tercera parte hablaré de los efectos estructurales materiales y prácticos del antisemitismo para finalmente presentar mecanismos de rechazo de culpa específicas del antisemitismo. Se muestra cómo la propia lógica antisemita proporciona formas de neutralización y negación específicas, diferentes y adicionales a las demás formas conocidas de rechazo de culpa. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:Recent surges in antivaccine activism and other antiscience trends now converge with rising antisemitism. During the COVID-19 pandemic, authoritarian elements from the far right in North America and Europe often invoked Nazi imagery to describe vaccinations or at times even blame the Jewish people for COVID-19 origins and vaccine profiteering. Such tropes represent throwbacks to the 14th century, when European Jews were persecuted during the time of the bubonic plague. This article provides both historical and recent perspectives on the (...) links between antiscience and antisemitism, together with the author’s personal experience as a Jewish vaccine scientist targeted by both dark forces. New approaches to uncoupling antisemitism from antiscience, while combating both, are essential for saving lives and preserving democratic values. (shrink)

Der Beitrag untersucht die Herausforderungen und Potenziale KI-gestützter Analysen zur Bekämpfung von Online-Antisemitismus. Die Autoren argumentieren, dass die Komplexität und Subtilität antisemitischer Kommunikation im Internet qualitative Detailanalysen erfordert, die als Grundlage für das Training von KI-Klassifikationsmodellen dienen. Am Beispiel des Projekts „Decoding Antisemitism“ wird aufgezeigt, wie die Kombination aus interdisziplinärer Forschung und maschinellem Lernen ein umfassenderes Verständnis von Hassrede ermöglicht und damit neue Wege für Präventions- und Interventionsstrategien eröffnet.

Cet article examine le(s) lien(s) entre le racisme antinoir et l’antisémitisme en se référant à quatre traditions distinctes : les psychanalyses de Fanon et de Freud, l’École de Francfort, les travaux de Cedric Robinson et la tradition du contrat social dans la philosophie politique des débuts de l’époque moderne. Sa thèse principale est que le racisme antinoir et l’antisémitisme sont intimement liés par la logique et le fonctionnement – la phénoménologie – de l’État dans la tradition occidentale du contrat social. (...) En montrant comment cela se fait, nous pouvons répondre à des questions qui, sinon, restent en suspens dans les autres traditions mentionnées ci-dessus. En résumé, cet article montre comment le racisme antinoir émerge avec force de la logique de l’État dans la tradition du contrat social, tandis que l’antisémitisme se développe comme une négation déformée de cette logique. (shrink)

Four new publications provide an overview of the relationship between Nietzsche’s philosophical thought and his political commitments. Together they highlight the true complexity of Nietzsche’s politics, since some of his ideas can be adapted to anarchist and right-wing positions as much as, for instance, to Frankfurt School critical theory. At the same time, these contributions underscore the limitations of a strictly positivist, or philological approach, since any assessment of Nietzsche’s politics cannot be detached from the political faultlines of the present.

In this compelling narrative of antisemitism in German thought, Paul Rose proposes a fresh view of the topic. Beginning with an examination of the attitudes of Martin Luther, he challenges distinctions between theologically derived (medieval) and secular, "racial" (modern) antisemitism, arguing that there is an unbroken chain of antisemitic feeling between the two periods. Originally published in 1992. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of (...) Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. (shrink)

Book review of _Antisemitic Discourse and Historical Amnesia in Bosnia: The Case of Mustafa Busuladžić._ Kjell Magnusson. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Uppsala Jewish Studies, 2024.

The history of the Frankfurt School cannot be fully told without examining the relationships of Critical Theorists to their Jewish family backgrounds. Jewish matters had significant effects on key figures in the Frankfurt School, including Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, Erich Fromm, Leo Lowenthal and Herbert Marcuse. At some points, their Jewish family backgrounds clarify their life paths; at others, these backgrounds help to explain why the leaders of the School stressed the significance of antisemitism. In the post-Second World (...) War era, the differing relationships of Critical Theorists to their Jewish origins illuminate their distinctive stances toward Israel. This book investigates how the Jewish backgrounds of major Critical Theorists, and the ways in which they related to their origins, impacted upon their work, the history of the Frankfurt School, and differences that emerged among them over time. (shrink)

The lack of a local Jewish community did not prevent medieval Swedish clerics and lay people from being interested in Jews and Jewish questions. They bought, translated, read and preached from most of the available textual sources and thus spread the widely available views of the hermeneutical Jew: a cruel, stubborn and ugly person and at the same time a cipher for the entire Jewish people both in biblical times and today. This article gives an overview of the Latin and (...) vernacular manuscripts with anti-Jewish motifs and texts and shows that the main and most common textual models and motifs were available in Swedish libraries and collections, from legends via apocryphal texts to fake disputations – adding up to a relatively complete ‘hermeneutical Jew’. A focus was, as in the rest of Europe, on Passion-related piety, which was the most common form of piety in the late Middle Ages – and usually connected with distinct anti-Jewish features. The fact that we can establish direct and indirect textual and narrative lines of tradition between the medieval codices and modern printed booklets of the nineteenth century proves the long-lasting intelligibility of anti-Jewish stereotypes in Sweden – developed and spread completely independently from the Jewish minority. The medieval perspective thus adds a much-needed nuance to the debate about antisemitism in the North: it did not need any actual Jews; it simply made up its own, based on the general Christian tradition. (shrink)

This chapter focuses on the resurgence of antisemitism. It argues that Hannah Arendt is a great prop and stay and comfort in dark times like these, because she was always very acute on the morbidly stupid element of totalitarianism. The absurdity of totalitarian thinking is related to its attack on the life of the mind, and Arendt was quite right to insist on confronting this anti-intellectual element of totalitarianism and the racist element in it.

Generations raised after the Second World War took for granted a world of stability and prosperity, and with it the waning of ancient hatreds. Recent decades have been more sobering. Instability and extremism have returned in force. As Shalom Lappin explains in this worrying book, an upsurge of antisemitism across the political spectrum has accompanied them. Recent events in the Middle East have transformed it into a tidal wave. Lappin explores in particular the disturbing correlation between the expansion of (...) economic globalization and the return of the anti-Jewish ideas that we thought had been consigned to the past. He examines this relationship within the context of the assault on democracy and social cohesion that anti-globalist reactions have launched in different parts of the world. To understand contemporary antisemitism, Lappin argues, it is essential to recognize the way in which its antecedents have become deeply embedded in Western and Middle Eastern cultures over millennia. This allows hostility to Jews to cross political boundaries easily, left and right, in a way that other forms of racism do not. Combatting antisemitism effectively requires a new progressive politics that addresses its root causes. _The New Antisemitism_ is crucial reading for anyone concerned with the social pathologies unleashed by our current economic and political discontents. (shrink)

This paper argues for a ‘contextualist’ approach to teaching antisemitism in philosophy class. The traditional ‘systematic’ approach emphasizes recognizing and dismantling antisemitic aspects in canonical philosophical texts. The introduced contextualist approach broadens the perspective, treating philosophy as a continuous debate embedded in cultural realities. It focuses on historical controversies rather than isolated arguments, includes the voice and the perspectives of the oppressed, and so has the potential to broaden traditional philosophical canons. In the second half of the paper, we (...) provide a case study of the contextualist approach, applying it to the ‘Berlin antisemitism controversy’ of 1879/80. We argue that the contextualist approach is particularly valuable when dealing with antisemitism as it teaches students to analyze arguments within the socio-political landscape and to identify antisemitic elements. The students thereby acquire the skills to discern antisemitic argumentation in other contexts as well. We suggest that this approach could be used to teach other debates in the history of philosophy, especially those tackling race, sex, and gender issues. (shrink)

This paper seeks to explore whether and how the Greek left-wing criticism against Israeli politics challenges the state of Israel’s right to exist and spreads antisemitic mythopoesis by utilising ‘soft hate speech’. In particular, my aim is to shed light on an ideological paradox – the utilisation of discriminatory discourse by the Greek left – a multidimensional political power consisted of a wide range of ideologies that all defend human rights and are characterised by progressive perspectives; a point that reveals (...) that antisemitism is well rooted in the Greek society, revives in times of crisis and penetrates the whole political spectrum. By applying the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) to Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) and its argumentation strategies as an appropriate theory and methodology to analyse in detail such utterances, my attempt is to show how antisemitism has been constituted as a common sense beyond the limits of the far-right populist discourses. (shrink)

Stravinsky considered himself a maker, a Homo faber, an artisan of the past. He confessed that he liked to compose music more than music itself, and argued that expression was not an immanent character of music. With this paper, I intend to discuss Stravinsky’s musical aesthetics (the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures given right after the outbreak of WWII –Poétique musicale), depicting and criticising his notion of expression and his view of the musician as mere “executant”. I will also point out (...) some biographical details (the controversial premiere of Le Sacre du printemps and Stravinsky’s antisemitism) while criticising Adorno’s harsh critique of Stravinsky’s music. -/- . (shrink)

The Swedish Jewish historian Hugo Valentin (1888–1963) founded the field of Swedish Jewish history in the 1920s. Valentin was also a prominent and public figure in Swedish Jewish affairs, as a writer, Zionist and refugee activist. This article focuses on Valentin’s analysis of antisemitism, from the 1920s to the early 1950s. It pays equal attention to the continuity and change of his writings on the topic, analysed in relation to such political contexts as the ‘Jewish question’, Zionism and anti-Nazi (...) responses, and advances within scholarly research on antisemitism. It shows that Valen­tin staked out a new approach to the topic of antisemitism, in which Jewish characteristics and the so-called Jewish question, while not completely absent, were placed within parentheses. Instead, he presented antisemitism and individual antisemites as problems in their own right, which, given Nazi German expansionism and the outbreak of the Second World War, seemed to be a greater and more urgent issue than whatever questions might have pertained to Jews and their place in modern society. (shrink)

This article adopts a historical perspective to explore Jewish women’s experiences of anti­ semitism in Sweden. The empirical foundation of the study comprises interviews with approximately thirty women born in the 1950s, 1970s or 1990s, all of whom self­identify as Jewish. Employing a dialogical epistemology rooted in intersectionality and shared authority, the study emphasises both the content of the women’s life­stories and the ways they interpret and articulate their experiences. A key finding of this study is that the fear of (...) antisemitism is a persistent presence in the lives of most participants. A notable continuity over time is the school, which emerges as a recurring site where Jewish women have experienced a sense of being different. However, there is a generational shift in how these experiences are interpreted. Women born in the 1990s are more likely to identify such experiences explicitly as antisemitism, compared to those born in the 1950s or 1970s. Another significant conclusion is that understanding Jewish women’s stories about antisemitism requires these accounts to be situated within broader relational contexts, encompassing both their own and others’ experiences as well as both contemporary and historical processes. Past experiences are often reactivated by current events, such as the attack of 7 October 2023. There is also a before and after 7 October. After 7 October, the fear of antisemitism increased, and some women describe the fear as constant or existential. A general conclusion in the article is that the fear of antisemitism is present in most of the women's lives. A continuity over time is that the school is a place where Jewish women have experienced that they are different. Women born in the 1990s interpret these experiences to a greater extent, than the women born in the 1950’s and the 19970’s, as an experience of antisemitism. In this respect, our results differ from previous international research showing that older people in particular experience and regard society as antisemitic, while younger people do not do so to the same extent. A further conclusion is that to understand women's narratives about experiences of antisemitism, these should also be understood in relation to the experiences of others both in the present and in the past, since these form layer upon layer of experiences that are actualized by current events such as October 7. There is also a before and after October 7. After 7 October, the feeling of insecurity has increased, and some women describe the fear as constant or existential. (shrink)

This review article gives an overview of the two most influential definitions of antisemit­ism in Europe: the non-legally binding working definition by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and the so-called Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. Furthermore, the article explains where the definitions come from and summarises the current debates and discourses on how to define antisemitism in view of the history and politics of Europe. It also gives brief attention to the Nexus Document as a third influential definition, (...) which plays a more important role in the United States. The article ends with a reflection on the definition offered by the historian Helen Fein, which is more action-based, and Amos Morris-Reich’s statement of the importance of reflecting on the role of language and the ability of language to create hate and to hurt. (shrink)

Freud's collection of antiquities - his "old and dirty gods"- stood as silent witnesses to the early analysts' paradoxical fascination and hostility toward religion. Pamela Cooper-White argues that antisemitism, reaching back centuries before the Holocaust, and the acute perspective from the margins that it engendered among the first analysts, stands at the very origins of psychoanalytic theory and practice. The core insight of psychoanalytic thought - that there is always more beneath the surface appearances of reality, and that this (...) "more" is among other things affective, memory-laden and psychological- cannot fail to have had something to do with the experiences of the first Jewish analysts in their position of marginality and oppression in Habsburg-Catholic Vienna of the 20th century. The book concludes with some parallels between the decades leading to the Holocaust and the current political situation in the U.S. and Europe, and their implications for psychoanalytic practice today. (shrink)

Drawing on Sartre’s writings, interviews, and conversations throughout his life, this work is a critical examination of his views on antisemites and Jews set against the backdrop of existentialism, Marxism, and his own sexuality. While Sartre is often considered an opponent of antisemitism, his near-total disregard for the fate of the Jews until the end of the Second World War, when he wrote _Anti-Semite and Jew_, suggests a different perspective. In particular, Sartre’s claim that the antisemite is first a (...) Manichaean who only later identifies the Jew as an embodiment of evil is interpreted as an attempt to minimize the gravity of antisemitism—a conclusion consistent with Sartre’s own admission, late in life, that he had held antisemitic views. (shrink)

Summary Despite his repudiation of antisemitism, Renan influenced the development of antisemitic ideologies in both France and Germany. His typology of ?Semite? and ?Aryan? was adopted especially in Germany and and combined with biological concepts of race to become the foundation of the concepts of ?Semitism? and ?Antisemitism?. Renan, however, always insisted on a linguistic/cultural definition of race and regarded the biological conception, while it might have had some primitive reality, as outmoded and immoral in European civilization. After (...) 1870 the growth of German racial antisemitism led Renan to elaborate repeatedly on race as a civilisational phenomenon that in modern Europe should have lost its biological origins. His argument that modern Jews were integral members of the French ?nation? and ?civilization? was profoundly influential on the emergence of the theory of the modern ?nation? as the liberal state. Gobineau's theory of race also lent itself to exploitation by racial antisemites, though it was not overtly antisemitic. Unlike Renan, however, Gobineau in his later years inclined to a vague personal antisemitism. The main difference was one of temperament as well as devotion on Renan's part to a liberal idea of the nation, as opposed to Gobineau's aversion to liberalism and modern civilization. (shrink)

The first systematic analysis of the Frankfurt School’s research and theorizing on modern antisemitism. Although the Frankfurt School represents one of the most influential intellectual traditions of the twentieth century, its multifaceted work on modern antisemitism has so far largely been neglected. The Politics of Unreason fills this gap, providing the first systematic study of the Frankfurt School’s philosophical, psychological, political, and social research and theorizing on the problem of antisemitism. Examining the full range of these critical (...) theorists’ contributions, from major studies and prominent essays to seemingly marginal pieces and aphorisms, Lars Rensmann reconstructs how the Frankfurt School, faced with the catastrophe of the genocide against the European Jews, explains forms and causes of anti-Jewish politics of hate. The book also pays special attention to research on coded and “secondary” antisemitism after the Holocaust, and how resentments are politically mobilized under conditions of democracy. By revisiting and rereading the Frankfurt School’s original work, this book challenges several misperceptions about critical theory’s research, making the case that it provides an important source to better understand the social origins and politics of antisemitism, racism, and hate speech in the modern world. Lars Rensmann is Professor of European Politics and Society at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. His books include Arendt and Adorno: Political and Philosophical Investigations (coedited with Samir Gandesha). (shrink)

Antisemitism is an increasingly prevalent aspect of public life in the West, both as a consequence of the growth of the far right across the board and through its mobilisation against Palestinian liberation and Palestine solidarity activism. While synagogues are targeted and far-right politicians revive ideas of Jewish global power, it is the left, Muslims, and Palestinians that are continuously constructed as the source of the current rise in hatred and violence against Jews. If historically the Marxist tradition engaged (...) actively with the so-called Jewish question, in recent decades the subject has receded from focus. This shift took place as other forms of racism – directed at Muslims, Black populations, or migrants – became the basis for reactionary politics in the West. This article argues that while some of the assumptions that underwrote classical Marxist texts on the issue have been found wanting – perhaps most notably the inevitable (or desirable) character of the trend towards assimilation – they remain important starting points for making sense of our present, both by their method and their political commitment to liberation. (shrink)

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John le Carré’s masterpiece, provides a unique opportunity to address a fundamental dilemma facing democracies: what can they do to defend themselves and remain worth defending? This article teases out two conceptions of democracy – one rooted in realism, the other in film noir – in the novel, its film adaption, and 2017 sequel to consider possible responses. The Spy’s reputation rests on a damning critique of the west for its Cold War (...) conduct. What has gone unappreciated, even by le Carré himself, is antisemitism’s role in the novel. While the novel capitalizes on the west’s fear that it might turn into the enemy it’s fighting, it suggests the enemy to be feared is not Soviet Russia but Nazi Germany, that is, something even worse than the enemy it was fighting. Le Carré quickly retreated from The Spy’s disconcerting theorizations, domesticating them in both the film and sequel. What might account for this retreat? The idea of necessary fictions essential to democracy, especially in wartime, is one explanation. (shrink)

Volume 29, Issue 2, March 2024, Page 233-235.