CTSJ 228 Theories of Antisemitism
This course surveys major theoretical approaches to conceptualizing and critiquing antisemitism. We begin by situating the emergence of modern “antisemitic” political movements in the debates and transformations surrounding Jewish emancipation and the so-called “Jewish Question” in nineteenth-century Europe. From there, we examine antisemitism through religious, nationalist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, existentialist, historical, and anti-colonial perspectives, tracing how different frameworks have explained its causes, forms, and reproduction. Throughout, we will assess the possibilities and limits of these theories for understanding antisemitism’s transformations across time and its relationship to broader structures of race, religion, gender, empire, and politics.