Kurs bilgisi

The Left and Antisemitism: History and Theory
Termin: Mittwoch: 10-12 Uhr; Raum: KAI 1315; Dozenten: Dr. Marcus Funck & Memphis Krickeberg

Since the early 2000s, polemics around "new antisemitism" have brought the role of the Left into the center of debates around antisemitism. Very much focused on the contemporary issue of anti-Zionism, these discussions often lack a certain historical anchoring, highlighting the ambivalence of the Left around the "Jewish Question. On the one hand, the Left, as it emerged in the wake of the French Revolution, was committed to equal rights for Jews throughout the 19th century, while on the other hand, the first socialist currents often used antisemitic tropes associating Jews with capitalism.

This seminar proposes to reinscribe the question of the Left's relationship to antisemitism in a study of the different national contexts in which the Left evolves, taking into account the transformations of the Left in connection with the great social transformations brought about by the advent of capitalist modernity since the beginning of the 19th century. If the Left evolves in societies marked by different degrees of antisemitism and is therefore potentially porous to it, it always positions itself in relation to antisemitism, rejecting it or reproducing it, in its own terms. Moreover, the question of antisemitism contributes to the definition and fracturing of the left and its various components, as shown by the debates within the labor movement at the time of the Dreyfus Affair. Hence, the seminar aims at decentering our viewpoint with respect to contemporary polemics and certitudes specific to each national context by adopting a comparative perspective that allows for the restitution of the question of the Left's relationship to antisemitism in a long-term view, taking into account the different factors that shape the field of intervention of the Left, notably the structuring of public space, national configurations of power relations, the differentiated place of Jews in different societies, and the international circulation of ideas.

The historical understanding of the Left's relationship to antisemitism should allow students to better grasp the stakes of contemporary debates, to identify ruptures and continuities, and to orient themselves more easily around these questions, especially if they are tempted by a career in research or civil society around these issues.

The seminar consists of a dozen sessions in which specialists from the academic world and/or civil society will speak about an aspect or episode of the Left's relationship to antisemitism. Three "free" sessions will allow for a reflection on the provided historical insight and for discussions on selected themes related to the subject of the seminar.

Modul: MA-ZfA 2