Gidley, Ben and McGeever, Brendan Francis and Feldman, David (2020) Labour and Antisemitism: a crisis misunderstood. The Political Quarterly 91 (2), pp. 413-421. ISSN 0032-3179.
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Abstract
In this article, we argue that Labour’s antisemitism crisis has been misunderstood. We suggest that a more accurate and sophisticated understanding of antisemitism offers a way forward. There are three elements to this claim. First, by drawing on existing data on attitudes towards Jews, we criticise the widespread focus on individual ‘antisemites’, rather than on the broader problem of antisemitism. In turn, we conceive of antisemitism not as a virus or poison, as in so many formulations, but rather, as a reservoir of readily available images and ideas that subsist in our political culture. Second, following on from this understanding, we offer five ways forward. Finally, we set this analysis in the context of a historical parting of the ways between anti‐racism and opposition to antisemitism. An anti‐racism defined solely by conceptions of whiteness and power, we argue, has proven unable to fully acknowledge and account for anti‐Jewish racism.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Labour, antisemitism, anti‐racism, metaphor, Jewish community, the left |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | The Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 14 May 2020 10:36 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:59 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/31928 |
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