Faculty of Arts Events Calendar
CGJS Francois Guesnet Defining Antisemitism: Eastern European lessons
When: Wednesday, 6 December 2023, 4-5:30pm (in-person only)
Where: FAB 2.32, Faculty of Arts Building
This talk by Professor François Guesnet, UCL, hosted by the Centre for Global Jewish Studies explores radical anti-Jewish positions formulated in the Polish lands between ca 1800 resonating to the present day. Rather than racist prejudice or religious animosity, a re-assessment of the very essence of the state and society in the aftermath of the Polish partitions seems to have encouraged such exclusionary discourses. By emphasising their transnational ramifications and continuity over many generations, it argues that the usual periodization of European antisemitism requires a more careful consideration of regional differences, further complicating the task of defining Jew-hatred and antisemitism.