Sprache:
Französisch
Erscheinungsjahr:
2008
Titel der Quelle:
Revue des Etudes Juives
Angaben zur Quelle:
167,1-2 (2008) 253-265
Schlagwort(e):
Antisemitism Historiography
Kurzfassung:
Argues that scapegoat theory is unable to explain antisemitism and that its persistence is an indication of the impasse of holistic sociology, which seeks a single explanation to phenomena. A "sociology of antisemitism" is impossible, since disparate occurrences of anti-Judaism throughout the ages and in various places do not follow the same logic or carry the same meaning. Points out weaknesses in the assertions that the scapegoat theory is built on: that man has a need to project his aggression and that attacks on Jews and others serve to strengthen social cohesion. Instead, in the spirit of Montesquieu and de Tocqueville, who opposed all determinism, advocates a sociology which asks the following questions: why are specifically Jews blamed, why here and now, and what makes people take to violence against Jews. Antisemitism should be studied as a normal sociological phenomenon, not as a crime or mental disturbance. "Comprehensive", not "causal" explanations, should be sought for the adoption of false, anti-Jewish beliefs. Antisemitism, and even the Shoah, can be understood, though not justified, by reconstructing the logic of the perpetrators.
DOI:
10.2143/REJ.167.1.2030862
URL:
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