Anti‐Semitic Attitudes in Europe: A Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The article uses available survey data to depict the depth and spread of anti-Semitic attitudes across Europe. The main assumption is that European anti-Semitism, both currently and historically, is closely tied to issues and crises of national self-identification; for this reason, social identity theory is employed to study the varying configurations of anti-Semitic prejudice. In most European countries, Jews are a small and socially integrated minority. Attitudes toward them are determined less by concrete experiences of cultural differences, or conflicts over scarce resources, but rather by a perceived threat to the national self-image. This leads to an accentuation of the pertinent prejudices that blame Jews to be responsible for that threat. This perspective brings to light considerable differences between Eastern and Western Europe and the continuing influence of national traditions.

We believe in your conspiracy if we distrust you: the role of intergroup distrust in structuring the effect of Islamic identification, competitive victimhood, and group incompatibility on belief in a conspiracy theory

“…The finding in this study that victimhood is a strong predictor of belief in a conspiracy theory extends the existing literature by connecting the belief to nationalism-based victimhood (Bergmann, 2008;de Zavala, Cichocka, Eidelson, & Jayawickreme, 2012). That is, the relationship between victimhood and belief in a conspiracy theory not only applies to a sense or a feeling that one nation has suffered more than another nation, but also in a sense or a feeling that Muslims have suffered more than other believers.…”

Perceived Age, Gender, and Racial/Ethnic Discrimination in Europe: Results from the European Social Survey

“…The inclusion of individuals of a wide age-range is yet another advantage as it allows examining perceived ageism not only through the eyes of older adults, but also from the perspective of younger adults, a group that has been almost neglected by past research concerning ageism (North & Fiske, 2012). Moreover, in contrast to the majority of past research that evaluated contextual variables associated with the presence of actual acts of discrimination (Bergmann, 2008;Biggs & Knauss, 2011;Blalock, 1957;Zick et al, 2008), this study evaluates the context in which discrimination is most likely to be perceived.…”

“…East-West (Bergmann, 2008;Ceobanu & Escandell, 2008;Kunovich, 2004) and North (Aalberg, Iyengar, & Messing, 2011;Knudsen, 1997)-South (Solé, 2004) differences in attitudes towards ethnic minorities and immigrants have been examined over the years under the assumption that cross-national differences exist. Nonetheless, shifts in attitudes have been noted, with some countries, traditionally known as being highly liberal, demonstrating racist views towards new immigrants and refugees in more recent years (Wren, 2001).…”

Consequences of the 2008 financial crisis for intergroup relations

“…In the language of the stereotype content model (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002), they are viewed as competent (e.g., powerful, clever) but also as lacking warmth (e.g., self-interested, manipulative). Presumably the most prominent example of such a scapegoat is the Nazi Germans' view of Jews as manipulators of the economy (Bergmann, 2008;Friedländer, 1997;Glick, 2002;Postone, 1982). Scholars propose that the stereotype of Jews being connected with the banking sector, manipulating the economy (Bergmann, 2002(Bergmann, , 2008 or representing financial capital (Postone, 1982) is still prevalent in contemporary German society.…”