Antisemitism

A Multidisciplinary Perspective on A Demonology with Variations

Authors

• Karmela Liebkind University of Helsinki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30664/ar.163571

Keywords:

antisemitism, social psychology

Abstract

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.