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The State in the Construction of Ethnicity and Ideological Labor: The Case of German Jewry

Author(s): Bodemann, Y. Michal

Date: 1990

Topics: Ethnicity, Attitudes to Jews, Main Topic: Other, Post-War Jewish History, Religion and State

Abstract: While there is an abundance of literature on ethnicity and ethnic group formation, the relationship of ethnicity to the state is rarely addressed. This paper discusses some classical and contemporary approaches to this question and proposes the concept of "ideological labor": ethnic groups performing a specific ideological function within society. The case discussed here is that of postwar German Jewry. The presence of Jews in postwar West Germany, it is argued, was vital for domestic and foreign policy reasons and Jews performed the role that was expected of them.

Secondary Antisemitism, the Economic Crisis and the Construction of National Identity in the Austrian Print Media

Author(s): Stoegner, Karin

Date: 2016

Topics: Antisemitism, Economy, Main Topic: Antisemitism, National Identity, Nationalism, Newspapers, Magazines and Periodicals

Abstract: This paper deals with the question of antisemitism in relation to the construction of national identity in late capitalist and post-Nazi societies. Its argument centres on the concept of ‘secondary antisemitism’, as developed within the Critical Theory tradition. Thus, I will elaborate on the complex relationships between post-Nazi antisemitism, the culture industry and the radical destruction of memory in late capitalist societies. The aim is to show the contemporary relevance of secondary antisemitism beyond the immediate context of the task of remembering the Nazi past. In the second section of this paper I will illustrate this by an analysis of examples from print media debates in Austria on the recent financial crisis and show that instances of secondary antisemitism are utilized for the discursive construction of an exclusive national(ist) unity.