Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe - by James Renton & Ben Gidley (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the first book to examine the relationship between European antisemitism and Islamophobia from the Crusades until the twenty-first century in the principal flashpoints of the two racisms. With case studies ranging from the Balkans to the UK, the contributors take the debate away from politicised polemics about whether or not Muslims are the new Jews. Much previous scholarship and public discussion has focused on comparing European ideas about Jews and Judaism in the past with contemporary attitudes towards Muslims and Islam. This volume rejects this approach. Instead, it interrogates how the dynamic relationship between antisemitism and Islamophobia has evolved over time and space. The result is the uncovering of a previously unknown story in which European ideas about Jews and Muslims were indeed connected, but were also ripped apart. Religion, empire, nation-building, and war, all played their part in the complex evolution of this relationship. As well as a study of prejudice, this book also opens up a new area of inquiry: how Muslims, Jews, and others have responded to these historically connected racisms. The volume brings together leading scholars in the emerging field of antisemitism-Islamophobia studies who work in a diverse range of disciplines: anthropology, history, sociology, critical theory, and literature. Together, they help us to understand a Europe in which Jews and Arabs were once called Semites, and today are widely thought to be on two different sides of the War on Terror.

Book Synopsis

This is the first book to examine the relationship between European antisemitism and Islamophobia from the Crusades until the twenty-first century in the principal flashpoints of the two racisms. With case studies ranging from the Balkans to the UK, the contributors take the debate away from politicised polemics about whether or not Muslims are the new Jews. Much previous scholarship and public discussion has focused on comparing European ideas about Jews and Judaism in the past with contemporary attitudes towards Muslims and Islam. This volume rejects this approach. Instead, it interrogates how the dynamic relationship between antisemitism and Islamophobia has evolved over time and space. The result is the uncovering of a previously unknown story in which European ideas about Jews and Muslims were indeed connected, but were also ripped apart. Religion, empire, nation-building, and war, all played their part in the complex evolution of this relationship. As well asa study of prejudice, this book also opens up a new area of inquiry: how Muslims, Jews, and others have responded to these historically connected racisms.

The volume brings together leading scholars in the emerging field of antisemitism-Islamophobia studies who work in a diverse range of disciplines: anthropology, history, sociology, critical theory, and literature. Together, they help us to understand a Europe in which Jews and Arabs were once called Semites, and today are widely thought to be on two different sides of the War on Terror.

From the Back Cover

This is the first book to examine the relationship between European antisemitism and Islamophobia from the Crusades until the twenty-first century in the principal flashpoints of the two racisms. With case studies ranging from the Balkans to the UK, the contributors take the debate away from politicised polemics about whether or not Muslims are the new Jews. Much previous scholarship and public discussion has focused on comparing European ideas about Jews and Judaism in the past with contemporary attitudes towards Muslims and Islam. This volume rejects this approach. Instead, it interrogates how the dynamic relationship between antisemitism and Islamophobia has evolved over time and space. The result is the uncovering of a previously unknown story in which European ideas about Jews and Muslims were indeed connected, but were also ripped apart. Religion, empire, nation-building, and war, all played their part in the complex evolution of this relationship. As well asa study of prejudice, this book also opens up a new area of inquiry: how Muslims, Jews, and others have responded to these historically connected racisms.

The volume brings together leading scholars in the emerging field of antisemitism-Islamophobia studies who work in a diverse range of disciplines: anthropology, history, sociology, critical theory, and literature. Together, they help us to understand a Europe in which Jews and Arabs were once called Semites, and today are widely thought to be on two different sides of the War on Terror.

'This is an important intervention in a contentious subject area. The collection, uniquely, opens up the study of antisemitism and Islamophobia across time and space. Made up of leading scholars, it makes an undisputed case for considering comparative racism as relational. It is essential reading for anyone interested in this growing field.'

--Bryan Cheyette, Diasporas of the Mind: Jewish/Postcolonial Writing and the Nightmare of History (2014)

Review Quotes

"This collection of essays outlines the groundwork for examining the interesting but often overlooked relationship between antiSemitism and Islamophobia in Europe. Essays provide a wide historical perspective from Crusader states of the Middle Ages through contemporary controversies. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Faculty." (B. Lieberman, Choice, Vol. 55 (6), February, 2018)

"The contributors to this volume seek to make connections between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia from the Crusades to modern times. Drawing on various case studies from across Europe, they describe the evolution of ideas about Judaism and Islam, noting how these have both combined and diverged, and how the adherents of these religions have responded." (Survival, Issue 2, April, 2019 - May, 2019)

About the Author

Ben Gidley is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, UK. His research focuses on racisms, multiculture, diaspora, and urban diversity. He is the co-author of Turbulent Times: The British Jewish Community Today (2010).

James Renton is Reader in History at Edge Hill University, UK. His research focuses on racism, empire, and the genealogy of global politics. He is the author of The Zionist Masquerade: The Birth of the Anglo-Zionist Alliance, 1914-1918 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).