Conspiracy Theory and Antisemitism

Abstract

No critical introduction to conspiracy theories would be complete without a discussion of their strong and longstanding connection with antisemitism. As we have seen in Chapter 3, for a substantial proportion of its history the conspiracy tradition was dominated by the idea of a Jewish plot to take over the world. This connection is not just historical, however. Much of contemporary antisemitism remains inherently conspiratorial. Animosity towards Jews is today seldom expressed in terms of demeaning stereotypes that defined racial antisemitism in the past or as routine ‘dislike’ of Jews or ‘disapproval’ of their culture or religion (Smith, 1996, Bauman, 1999, Harrison, 2006). Instead, the biggest ‘fault’ of Jews in the eyes of antisemites worldwide is that they are in possession of considerable wealth, power and influence and are using it to exercise undue control over democratic governments, international organisations, financial institutions, media corporations and cultural establishments.

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