The Lure of Anti-Semitism

Since the beginning of the 21st century France has seen the return of anti-Semitism with attacks, desecration of cemeteries, insults, and threats. This book is the outcome of a survey carried out by Michel Wieviorka along with a dozen sociologists. He examines different tracks: the possible links between anti-Semitism and the presence of a considerable Muslim population in France, the hypothesis of a meeting between Islamism and the anti-Semitic extreme left, as well as the hypothesis whereby the rise of anti-Semitism is connected with the evolution of the Jewish population in France which is increasingly attracted by a community-oriented way of life.
This book demonstrates that present-day anti-Semitism owes as much to factors internal to French society (the social, institutional, and political crisis) as it does to the projection of global issues on French soil, in particular those which originate in the Middle East. He demonstrates that this phenomenon has novel aspects, but its more classical features are also borne in mind. This rigorous and objective book is the first scientific study of present-day French anti-Semitism.

Michel Wieviorka, Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and President of the International Sociological Association. He has published in particular on racism (The Arena of Racism, 1995) and on terrorism (The Making of Terrorism, 2003).