“The Pure Essence of Things”? Contingency, Controversy, and the Struggle to Define Antisemitism and Islamophobia

Abstract

This chapter examines the value and limits of definitions in addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia, two relatively recent terms conveying a lengthy history of animosity and violence. Both terms have been subject in recent decades to controversy over their meaning and function in political and legal efforts to combat the spread of bigoted prejudice in society. We trace the various, constantly shifting, meanings of the two terms and point to the contingent political contexts that propelled these shifts over time. The dynamic nature of definitions, we argue, stems not only from changing views of the phenomena, but also from the fact that definitions perform a rhetorical function, serving at times to discredit political opponents. Drawing on the chapters collected in this volume, we propose three, interrelated, historical trajectories to understand the politics of definition: the long view, which situates the question of definition within a history of political engagements which have aimed to define Jews, Muslims, and the prejudice against them; the short view, focusing on how key events of the twentieth century affected the nature and political role of definitions of racist prejudice in different contexts; and a critical examination of present-day political efforts to advance definition as a purported key to suppress antisemitism and Islamophobia. We argue that the wish to capture the “essence” of antisemitism and Islamophobia without reckoning with the concepts’ historical and political load neither promotes understanding of the phenomena nor does it effectively help to combat them.