Wednesday, October 20th – 12 pm Eastern Standard Time
Against the backdrop of rising antisemitic incidents around the world and ongoing debates on the subject within left movements, this online panel will address the complicated political, ethical, and historical questions at stake in
contemporary discussions of antisemitism. The panel will critically examine widespread beliefs about Jews and power, exploring how antisemitic myths continue to connect Jews to capitalism, the slave trade, media, war, and more. The panelists will discuss what antisemitism shares with other forms of racism as well as what sets it apart, why it is central to yet irreducible to white supremacy, and debates surrounding its “weaponization” against the left. It will also reflect on a recent letter written by the panelists addressing the antisemitic content in Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s book The Sociology of Freedom, and subsequent discussions within the social ecology movement.
In addressing left tropes of ‘Jewish power’, panelists will examine why the left often struggles to identify and address antisemitism in the very movements that are critical to our collective struggle to create a truly directly democratic and ecological world.
Panelists include Chaia Heller (PhD anthropology UMass Amherst, Institute for Social Ecology), Peter Staudenmaier (history, Marquette University), Alan Goodman (anthropology, Hampshire College), Robert Ogman (PhD sociology, antisemitism educator), and Blair Taylor (Institute for Social Ecology), moderated by Eleanor Finley (Umass Amherst anthropology, ROAR mag).
To register for this online seminar, please complete the form below. The event is free, but we greatly appreciate donations to support the ISE’s work over the last 47 years: offering visionary solutions to the overlapping social and ecological crises we face.
ISE Event Registration Form
