Anat Kraslavsky
Following the ICSZ student works-in-progress conference in August 2024, presenters were invited to write further reflections on their research. ICSZ is thrilled to present this series on emerging research.
Intersectionality, a concept that emerged from feminist theory and critical race studies, has been widely utilized to analyze the interlocking systems of oppression that affect individuals and communities across various axes such as race, gender, sexuality, and class. However, its application has faced criticism in various fields, which was also reiterated in the discussion during the mini conference. This essay, as a reflection of the mini conference, critiques the use of intersectionality in the context ‘new antisemitism’ and argues for the adoption of assemblage theory (Deleuze and Guattari 1987, 2009), to offer a more nuanced and dynamic framework. Specifically, this essay will explore how assemblage theory, as adapted by scholars like Jasbir Puar (2007) in the context of the war on terror, can be applied to the study of the war on antisemitism (A.‑E. Younes 2020), providing a robust analytical tool that recognizes the rhizomatic connections between systems and their relations.
In the mini conference I presented the field of Critical Studies on ‘New Antisemitism’ with a focus on Germany. This field examines how this discourse shifts the focus from classic right-wing antisemitism to criticism of Israel, framing such criticism as inherently antisemitism. The ‘new antisemitism’ discourse equates anti-Zionism with antisemitism, particularly targeting movements like Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) but increasingly also framed as stemming from an ‘anti-imperial left’ or ‘anti-Israeli activism’. This type of ‘new antisemitism’ is also referred to as ‘imported antisemitism’ brought into a post-racial German (Özyürek 2023, 2016) and Europe by migrants. This narrative is governed through state philosemitism (Bouteldja 2017), where governments enact policies that protect Israel from criticism under the guise of combating antisemitism and preserving Jewish life. What I term Homophilosemitism and femophilosemitism further reinforce this racial governance by aligning discourses on LGBTIQ+ and feminist rights with pro-Israel stances, portraying Israel as a progressive nation in contrast to its critics, particularly Muslims, while at the same time promoting right-wing politics. (Rose 2020)
These frameworks serve not only to stifle dissent and Palestinian solidarity but also to preserve settler sovereignty (Schotten 2018), maintaining a racialized hierarchy that marginalizes non-Western communities while reinforcing settler colonial logics under the cover of protecting Jewish life. This transnational racial governance (Romeyn 2020) connects mechanisms of surveillance and policing within German state philosemitism and European border politics to settler colonialism through settler coloniality, by means of transfer of these technologies beyond the boundries of Palestine. (A. Younes 2023)
In the mini conference, I found really intriguing the critique that was made towards the intersectionality paradigm and its usefulness to the critical study of Zionism. Intersectionality, originally coined by Crenshaw (1991) has become a cornerstone of critical theory, particularly in its ability to highlight how multiple axes of oppression intersect to shape individuals’ experiences of marginalization and privilege. However, the application of intersectionality to the study of antisemitism—and particularly ‘new antisemitism’—has epistemic pitfalls with deadly political consequences.
Intersectionality has been applied in scientific racism which also can be seen as scientific philosemitism. One such example is the work of Karin Stögner (2021). Stögner contends that by disregarding antisemitism, global post/decolonial queer-feminism is maintaining racism and perpetuating antisemitism. In a line of argumentation that can be characterized as Islamophobic, she sees the question of Palestine as a religious local conflict over land and proposes that intersectionality should be used to fight antisemitism. Her critique can be seen in the following quote: “in the name of intersectionality and the post-colonial and anti-imperialist struggle, they (global queer-feminism) subordinate the fight for women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights to the general hatred of Israel.” (Stögner 2021, 83)
Because of this utilization of intersectionality, in a manner that perpetuates state philosemitism, I contend that there is a need for another paradigm. Assemblage theory offers a more fitting framework for analyzing the ‘new antisemitism’ discourse and philosemitism as governmentality. Assemblages are not fixed but rather collections of heterogeneous elements that come together in contingent and often temporary ways. These elements can include material objects, discourses, social practices, institutions, and affects. Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) concept of the rhizome is particularly relevant here. A rhizome is a web of interconnected nodes that can connect in multiple ways, creating a fluid and ever-changing structure.
Puar’s (2007) application of assemblage theory to the war on terror provides a valuable precedent for applying this framework to a context similar to that of the study of the ‘new antisemitism’ discourse and the war on antisemitism. Puar argues that the war on terror cannot be understood solely through an intersectional lens because it is not simply a matter of intersecting identity categories, but rather a complex assemblage of discourses, practices, and materialities that come together in contingent ways. Instead of an intersectional paradigm, Puar uses assemblage theory to trace the rhizomatic connections between different elements of the war on terror, such as nationalism, sexuality, race, and geopolitics.
Similarly, ‘new antisemitism’ can be understood as an assemblage that brings together various discourses, affects, practices, and materialities in contingent, unpredictable and even contradictory ways. Therefore, it requires an analysis of the rhizomatic connections between different elements of the assemblage, as well as an awareness of how these connections shift and change over time. This approach not only enriches our understanding of ‘new antisemitism’ but also offers a more flexible and dynamic method for analyzing other complex social phenomena such as the relationship of European border politics, settler colonialism and coloniality that offer new avenues for the critical study of Zionism and beyond.
References
Bouteldja, Houria. 2017. Whites, Jews, and Us: Toward a Politics of Revolutionary Love. Band 22. Intervention Series: Semiotext(e).
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43 (6): 1241. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039.
Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. 1987. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia: University of Minnesota Press.
Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. 2009. Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Penguin Classics.
Özyürek, Esra. 2016. “Export-Import Theory and the Racialization of Anti-Semitism: Turkish- and Arab-Only Prevention Programs in Germany.” Comp Stud Soc Hist 58 (1): 40–65. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417515000560.
Özyürek, Esra. 2023. Subcontractors of Guilt: Holocaust Memory and Muslim Belonging in Postwar Germany. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781503635579.
Puar, Jasbir. 2007. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham, N.C. Duke University Press; Chesham.
Romeyn, Esther. 2020. “(Anti) ‘New Antisemitism’ as a Transnational Field of Racial Governance.” Patterns of Prejudice 54 (1-2): 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.2019.1696048.
Rose, Hannah. 2020. The New Philosemitism: Exploring a Changing Relationship Between Jews and the Far-Right. London: International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation. King’s College. https://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ICSR-Report-The-New-Philosemitism-Exploring-a-Changing-Relationship-Between-Jews-and-the-Far-Right.pdf.
Schotten, C. Heike. 2018. Queer Terror: Life, Death, and Desire in the Settler Colony. New directions in critical theory 59. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1856976.
Stögner, Karin. 2021. “Antisemitism and Intersectional Feminism: Strange Alliances.” In Confronting Antisemitism in Modern Media, the Legal and Political Worlds, edited by Armin Lange, Kerstin Mayerhofer, Dina Porat, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, 69–88. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Younes, Anna. 2023. “Settler Coloniality Is Coming Home to Roost in Europe: Antisemitism, Palestine and the Right to Protest in Germany.” Jadaliyya.com, August 11, 2023. https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/45243.Younes, Anna-Esther. 2020. “Fighting Anti-Semitism in Contemporary Germany.” Islamophobia Studies Journal 5 (2): 249–66. https://doi.org/10.13169/islastudj.5.2.0249.