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Anti-Semitism is an exceptional historical phenomenon whose history extends at least two millennia into the past, as its discriminatory vitriol affecting many countries and a wide range of societies. Yet despite that history, the conditions of anti-Semitism are not universal. Many countries have no tradition of anti-Semitic thought, and even in those nations where anti-Semitism periodically rears its head, there have been long periods when it was nearly dormant. This definitive study tackles the complex roots and manifestations of anti-Semitism over the centuries, tracing the rise of anti-Jewish stereotypes and the circumstances in which racial prejudice has led to tragic consequences. As the large-scale social changes of the past two millennia have given extra impetus to the reappearance of cultural bias, this is a timely and important contribution to social historical scholarship.
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The Drawing of the Mark of Cain [A SocioHistorical Analysis of the Growth of AntiJewish Stereotypes] Dik van Arkel
Amsterdam University Press
The Drawing of the Mark of Cain A Socio-Historical Analysis of the Growth of Anti-Jewish Stereotypes
Dik van Arkel
Cover design: Geert de Koning, Ten Post Lay-out: Adriaan de Jonge e-
© D. van Arkel / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book.
Table of contents
Preface H. Floris Cohen, Leo A.C.J. Lucassen, Robert J. Ross Introduction Chris Quispel The Historiographical Background Abortive Anti-Semitism? The Origins Stigmatization, Nascent Hostility, and Social Distance Jewish-Gentile Relations in Eastern Christendom and the Permissiveness-cum-Terrorization Hypothesis A Dead Reckoning: The Growth of an Anti Jewish Stereotype in Western Europe Refutations and Predictions A Prognosis Checked: A Survey of Medieval Jewish-Gentile Relations in England A Survey of Jewish-Gentile Relations in Italy Early Medieval France and Germany up to The Crusades
Accusatory Innovation Usury and Labour Ethics The Problem of Popularization A Historiographical Epilogue Chris Quispel Notes Index
Preface H. Floris Cohen, Leo A.C.J. Lucassen, Robert J. Ross
This book by the social historian D. van Arkel seeks to explain anti-Semitism as a historical phenomenon. It deals with core issues in the era from early Christianity to the early modern period, so as to show how eventually, by the time of Hitler’s coming to power, vast-scale genocide could come about. It does not claim to provide an exhaustive narrative, which would be elusive in any case. The path taken instead is that of Popperian conjecture and refutation. This consistently hypothetical-deductive, “experimental” and comparative approach is first set forth by means of sophisticated, methodological argument. It then leads to a detailed demonstration that, once distinctively Western anti-Semitism had come into being through clearly analyzable, situational logic, three specific historical variables with an inherent logic of their own provide a set of tools eminently suitable for coming to explanatory grips with: any outburst of anti-Semitism over the period of almost twenty centuries here at issue, with the emphasis ve