Racism in Europe: 1870-2000 (European Culture & Society S.)

The study of modern racism has tended to treat anti-Semitism and anti-black racism as separate and unconnected phenomena. This innovative study argues that a full understanding of the origins and development of racism in Europe after 1870 needs to examine the structure and interrelationships between the two dominant forms of prejudice. The "crisis of modernity" found expression in a deepening political racism which was formulated, according to national contexts, through negative stereotypes of the black and the Jew which were structured in quite different ways. By weaving together the changing spatial and temporal dimensions of anti-Semitic and anti-black prejudice Neil MacMaster provides a fresh and more global framework for understanding modern racism. (20030201) The study of modern racism has tended to treat anti-Semitism and anti-black racism as separate and unconnected phenomena. This innovative study argues that a full understanding of the origins and development of racism in Europe after 1870 needs to examine the structure and interrelationships between the two dominant forms of prejudice. Contrary to expectation. anti-black racism was not confined to the colonial maritime nations of western Europe, but pepetrated even the rural societies of central and eastern Europe. Likewise, anti-Semitism could flourish even in the almost total absence of Jews. MacMaster explores the conditions under which modern political movements, faced with the crisis of modernity, began to draw upon and mobilise the negative stereotypes that, through the development of the mass media, had become almost universal features of popular culture. By weaving together the changing spatial and temporal dimensions of anti-Semitic and anti-black prejudice the study provides a fresh and more global framework for understanding modern racism. A historical study focusing on antisemitism and anti-Black racism, noting parallels between them, such as the use of negative stereotypes. The main bearers of racism are "Whites", whose views have been affected by Social Darwinism and eugenics. Ch. 3 (pp. 86-114), "The Rise of Political Anti-Semitism", contains brief sections on various aspects of anti-Jewish racism (ideological, economic, religious, etc.), as well as antisemitism in Germany and Austria, Eastern Europe, and Britain and France until 1914. Ch. 5 (pp. 140-165), "Anti-Semitism in the Nazi Era", reports on antisemitism in Germany, Poland, Italy, France, Hungary, and the USSR between 1914-45. The conclusion (pp. 209-223) discusses the phenomenon of antisemitism in countries without Jews, and how antisemitism is often covert, with new racist movements focusing on "democratic" defense against immigrants and other "aliens". (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism) The study of modern racism has tended to treat anti-Semitism and anti-black racism as separate and unconnected phenomena. This study argues that a full understanding of the origins and development of racism in Europe after 1870 needs to examine the structure and inter-relationships between the two dominant forms of prejudice. The "crisi s of modernity" found expression in a deepening political racism which was formulated, according to national contexts, through negative stereotypes of the black and the Jew which were structured in quite different ways. By weaving together the changing spatial and temporal dimensions of anti-Semitic and anti-black prejudice Neil MacMaster provides a more global framework for understanding modern racism