Global Anti-Semitism in World-Historical Perspective: An Introduction

This introduction to the Spring 2009 issue of Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge begins with a discussion of "The Articulation and Re-Articulation of Anti-Semitism" in a world-historical perspective, focusing on such topics as "Anti-Semitism in the Longue-Durée," "Christian Europe's Final Solutions," and "Israel and Global Anti-Semitism." It then follows with a survey of the volume's articles which were part of an international conference entitled, "The Post-September 11 New Ethnic/Racial Configurations in Europe and the United States: The Case of Anti-Semitism," organized by Lewis Gordon and Ramón Grosfoguel at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (MSH) in Paris on June 29-30, 2007. The two scholars along with Eric Mielants also served as co-editors of this issue. Part of a series inaugurated by a discussion on Islamophobia, the conference brought a majority Jewish group of scholars together in the hope of bringing to the forum a critical exchange and conversation among the participants. The discussion presented in the introduction is not necessarily representative of the views of the scholars included in the collection.