Abstract: This article deals with antisemitism in Europe and post-Holocaust Sweden and Denmark specifically. The idea that it is always “the same old antisemitism” that pops up and “shows its ugly face” does not find support in this study. Instead, we distinguish between three different kinds of contemporary antisemitisms: Classic antisemitism, Aufklärungsantisemitismus, and Israel-derived antisemitism. Our findings suggest that each of these antisemitisms is inspired by different underlying “philosophies,” and that they are carried by different social groups and manifested in different ways. In the Scandinavian countries today, we find that there is less classic antisemitism, much more Aufklärungsantisemitismus, and a relatively stronger presence of Israel-derived antisemitism. In our analysis this specifically Scandinavian pattern of antisemitisms is closely related to the highly developed processes of modernization in the Scandinavian countries on the one hand and the relatively large numbers of recently arrived immigrants from the Middle East on the other. This appears to imply that antisemitism based on racial prejudices is losing ground, as is antisemitism based on religious convictions. However, according to the European Union Agency For Fundamental Rights (FRA) in Antisemitism: Overview of Data Available in the European Union 2007-2017 (Luxembourg: Luxembourg Publications Office of the European Union, 2018), the incidence of violent antisemitic attacks seems to be on the rise. These typically emanate from small pockets of individuals in the population who share an image of all Jews being accomplices to whatever the State of Israel does. Considering how the processes of modernization operate it is assumed that other countries in Europe will follow a similar trajectory. Rationalization, secularization, and individuation will also come to penetrate these societies and weaken notions of “race” and “religion” as springboards for antisemitism. Thus, tendencies towards Aufklärungsantisemitismus will be strengthened. If integrating and getting rid of the marginalization and condescending treatment of its newly arrived Muslim inhabitants does not succeed, Israel-derived antisemitism can be expected to thrive. The pattern of antisemitisms in Denmark and Sweden might be a preview of what antisemitisms in twenty-first-century Europe could come to look like.
Abstract: This article studies eight European countries, investigating how the level of antisemitism as
registered in national populations relates to the perception of antisemitism by the Jewish
population in the same country. Furthermore, the article empirically identifies distinct aspects
of antisemitism, deconstructing the concept of antisemitism and breaking it up into three
kinds of empirically differently based and composed antisemitisms (Note the plural!): classic
antisemitism, Israel-derived antisemitism and Enlightenment-based antisemitism. The article
also elaborates on some more general implications for the understanding of the character of
antisemitism in contemporary Europe, and based on that, presents some perspectives on the
development of the three distinct antisemitisms in contemporary Europe.
The countries included in the article are Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, but a special focus is placed on Sweden because
the situation in Sweden concerning antisemitism and the Jewish population’s reactions to
perceived antisemitism is particularly illustrative of some of the main points we can make
based on our investigations.
Abstract: In this paper we combine and compare the results of two major but differently
focused cross-national surveys on antisemitism.
On the one hand, we have data from the European Union Agency for Fundamental
Rights (FRA) survey of Jewish people’s perceptions and experiences of
antisemitism in eight EU member states – Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary,
Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom (FRA, 2013). This survey was
carried out in the second half of 2012.
On the other hand, we use the results from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
survey of attitudes towards Jews, with representative samples of each countries’
population, carried out at the end of 2013. This study covers 102 countries all over
the world.1 In this article we will focus only on the same eight EU countries that
were included in the FRA study.
By way of conclusion, we will elaborate on some more general implications for the
understanding of the character of antisemitism in contemporary Europe and on
the basis of that, present some perspectives on the development of three distinct
antisemitisms in contemporary Europe.
In this presentation a special focus will be on Sweden. This is partly because it is
in Sweden that we have carried out most of our own empirical studies, but also
because the situation in Sweden concerning antisemitism and the reaction of the
Jewish population to perceived antisemitism are particularly illustrative of some of
the main points we can make based on our investigations
