Feminist Antisemitism: An Intellectual History establishes the antipathy towards Jews that existed as the movement began and tracks how changes in feminist in-groups and theories manifested in new, feminist-inflected forms of antisemitic thinking.
Though the feminist response to the brutal Hamas invasion on October 7, 2023 shocked onlookers, in fact, hostility towards Jews, Jewish women, and Israel has become a central feature of the feminist movement and its most important theories. As different versions of feminism competed, a feminism that does not seek mainstream feminist goals like equal rights or treatment has become predominant, particularly in academia. Newer feminist and queer theories, often related to “whiteness” and race, have migrated far outside of feminism, energizing movements like Black Lives Matter, justifying Islamist violence, and harming not just Jews, but women.
This book will be of interest to scholars researching and teaching about antisemitism, feminism, feminist theory (including Black feminism, women of color feminism, and intersectionality), feminist history, and Jewish women’s history, and to the general reader who is interested in feminism, antisemitism, and contemporary debates around education reform, free speech, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.