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Toward the Final Solution: A History of European Racism

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... npr. Bobbio, 1992;Salvioni in Ovadia, 2012 Evropejcev in Američanov išče v njihovi prirojeni manjvrednosti (Lewis, 1998(Lewis, , 2001Miles in Brown, 2003;Mosse, 1978;Rossi, 2010aRossi, , 2010bSalvioni in Ovadia, 2012;Ule, 2005). V obdobju razsvetljenstva se je podobno zgodilo z verskimi manjšinaminjihovega zatiranja ni bilo več mogoče upravičevati na osnovi verskega preganjanja, ampak je bilo treba iskati nove, znanstvene argumente. ...
... Tujci v Evropi so bili takrat Židje, ki naj bi zaradi svoje drugačnosti predstavljali resno grožnjo evropski kulturi. Ta argument je najprej pripeljal do marginaliziranja Židov, nato pa v obdobju nacizma do morije v koncentracijskih taboriščih (Arendt, 2007;Bauman, 2006;Lewis, 1998Lewis, , 2001Mosse, 1978). Tovrstni argumenti so v zadnjih letih še vedno aktualni predvsem v ekstremističnih skupinah, in čeprav jih javnost t. i. civiliziranih držav v glavnem zavrača, se podpora istim skupinam v obdobjih napetosti močno poveča (Lewis, 1998(Lewis, , 2001. ...
Thesis
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Due to the increasing scale of migration, European society is becoming more and more multicultural. However, society itself seems not to know or is unable to cope with multiculturalism in a way that allows a respectful coexistence with the Others, based on mutual acceptance, will and commitment to enter into closer relationships. In the theoretical section the state of contemporary postmodern society is analysed, as well as the transition from modern to postmodern society. Furthermore, the position of an individual in this transition it analysed. Due to the variety of value systems in the postmodern society, this thesis questions human rights as a universal and commonly accepted principle of Western democratic societies. Because of the growing criticism of that concept, the thesis then analyses the concept of the global ethic, which, according to many, deepens or ethically complements the concept of human rights. The concept of tolerance as one of the fundamental concepts of Western democratic societies is also discussed. The study further examines the concept of recognition, which addresses a number of criticisms of the tolerance concept. The problems at the broader societal level are also reflected in the school environment, so the study examines whether the public elementary school can be based on human rights and the global ethic. The paper argues that schools should be developed into a coexistence environment, particularly coexistence with the Others. For that reason, this thesis presents the concepts and approaches that are fundamental in the development of a coexistence culture based on respect for the Other as different. The analysis of the situation in Slovene primary schools at both the systemic and the practical level shows deficiencies in the inclusion of pupils of non-Slovene origin, primarily deriving from tolerance and assimilation rather than respect tendencies. Before this theoretical background, a study is carried out to determine, in particular, whether among the teachers and pupils in the Slovene elementary schools the respect for ethnicities predominates only as a principle or as actual interpersonal behaviour, and whether there are differences in attitudes towards different ethnicities. The Empirical part I presents the results of the research carried out on a sample of 1037 pupils and 187 teachers from six Slovenian municipalities. Data were collected with a questionnaire, specially designed for the purpose of this research. Data were also collected via semi-structured interviews, which deepened meaning of the questionnaire data. The interviews were conducted on a sample of 26 pupils from one elementary school in the Ljubljana municipality and 15 teachers from three elementary schools in the Central Slovenia region. Data are presented through four sections, according to research questions. The main findings of these four research questions are summarized in the following. The main findings of the first section of research, related to pupils’ attitudes towards ethnicities, show that: girls have a more positive attitude compared to boys; historical rivalries between ethnicities have a bearing on pupils’ attitudes; younger students have a more negative attitude towards ethnicities than older students; bilingual politics can influence the attitude of pupils to one or the other traditional national minority; pupils have the most negative attitude towards students of Roma and Albanian background, and the most positive for Slovenes, English and Germans, as well as Croats. The study also shows that the degree of principle of respect is always higher than the degree of willingness to enter into closer relationships with different ethnicities. Furthermore, the attitudes towards ethnicities were also collected from the teachers. The results demonstrate that: the attitude of teachers to ethnicities is very good; male teachers are slightly more inclined to accept students from different ethnic groups in the class compared to female teachers; there is somewhat more negative attitude towards pupils of Roma and Albanian origin among teachers from different places. It is also noted that in comparison with teachers, pupils have a slightly more positive attitude towards Slovenes and English and a noticeably more negative attitude than teachers to Albanian and Roma students. The main findings of the second section of research, related to pupils’ opinion of pupils’ attitudes towards ethnicities, show that pupils perceive that the principle level of respect for pupils to other ethnic groups is higher than the degree of willingness to enter into closer relationships with them. Pupils of those ethnic origin that have a negative attitude to certain ethnicities themselves, are aware of the same negative attitude of other students; pupils of the lower years have a more positive opinion of pupils’ attitudes towards ethnicities compared to older pupils; pupils are aware of the poorer attitude of peers towards the pupils of Roma background. Furthermore, the results related to the teachers’ opinion on pupils’ attitudes towards ethnicities, demonstrate that female teachers have a better insight into the real attitudes of pupils to ethnicities than male teachers, as demonstrated in the first section of research. The research also found that pupils and teachers are aware of a more accepting attitude of pupils to ethnicities, which enjoy a more positive reputation in the Slovenian society than to those who have a lesser reputation. Teachers are aware of the problem of pupils’ negative attitudes towards ethnicities to a greater degree than pupils themselves. The main findings of the third section of the study, related to pupils’ opinion of teachers’ attitudes towards ethnicities, show that this variable is relatively good, and that pupils of those ethnicities that themselves have a more negative attitude towards certain ethnic groups, also experience the same attitude of teachers towards those ethnicities. The main findings related to teachers’ opinion on teachers’ attitudes towards ethnicities show that this is very good, and at the most negative, they indicate the attitude of teachers towards pupils of Roma and Albanian background. It was also found that pupils’ assessment of teachers’ attitudes to ethnicities is more positive than those of the teachers. The fourth section of the study examines by factor analyses the opinion on the presence and the effectiveness of approaches and activities at the level of the class and the school, which influence the development of respectful relations with fellow pupils of other ethnicities through the orientation of the school in the implementation of the equality of ethnic groups (1st factor) and school orientation in the preservation and development of ethnic identities (2nd factor). The main findings related to pupils’ opinion show that: Roma pupils (most of them coming from Lendava) and Hungarians have the more positive opinion on the 2nd factor whereas pupils from the ethnic groups of the former Yugoslavia have the most negative attitude towards the 2nd factor. Scoring more positively on the 2nd factor is also a defining characteristics of the teachers from Lendava. When comparing the opinions of students and teachers, it was found that teachers’ opinions on both factors are more negative than pupils’ opinions. On the basis of the obtained results and theoretical section, guidelines are developed for the educational work in schools, in which the emphasis is primarily on the attitudinal and educational dimensions in developing respectful relationships to the Others as different. The guidelines cover eight areas, namely the development of the intercultural and anti-biased ethos of the school, highlighting the importance of a reflected analysis of the school situation and education towards critical reflection and self-reflection using the Critical Incident Technique; developing intercultural sensitivity in pupils; promoting the ability and possibility of developing a positive identity; developing an understanding of the Other as different by proposing methods that empower understanding of the Other as different; pedagogical approach of dialogue and active listening of pupils; empathic and exotopic understanding of the Other; encouraging and facilitating contact with the Other as different – entering into quality interpersonal relationships; promoting and using collaborative learning, and in this context, in particular, group research. Since it was intended to check the necessity, usability and applicability, and consequently the effectiveness of the guidelines, action research was conducted at one of the elementary schools in Ljubljana. The findings are presented in Empirical part II. As part of the action research, four main activities are presented and analysed that were carried out at school, considering the school’s guidelines and needs. The results confirmed not only the necessity of these activities, but also their effectiveness, so it can be stated that the guidelines can help shape more respectful relationships to different ethnicities. There were positive changes in the relations between pupils from different ethnic backgrounds, as well as in the image, understanding and respect for other ethnicities; a noticeable appreciation of previously neglected ethnicities was established; students developed a desire to learn about other ethnicities, and above all the desire to get in touch with the Other and learn from him. Nevertheless, certain limitations or facts were identified that need to be addressed in the introduction of educational guidelines, and thus complement the elaborated guiding principles. The following recommendations are suggested: changing the school ethos is a long-term goal, so it should be pursued gradually; the application of the guidelines requires a long time, as it is a long-term process; teachers must be in favour of change and the establishment of an anti-biased and intercultural ethos at the school, and respect for different ethnicities; guidelines should be presented to teachers as concrete as possible; teachers first need to fathom the degree of own intercultural sensitivity; it is necessary to work on the implicit beliefs of teachers and break stereotypes, that are perceived by the teachers as natural and non-problematic, whereas they are not; schools need a “critical friend”. In the conclusion of this paper, based on the fundamental findings of the carried out work, suggestions are provided on changes in the education of teachers, which would enable them to acquire knowledge and insights to work in accordance with the guidelines, particularly awareness of their own attitudes towards diversity and self-development, as this is crucial for the effectiveness of further work of teachers towards developing respectful relationships between pupils.
... This document purportedly contained the ideas of a secret society of Jewish elders detailing Jewry's plot to take over the world. Because of the salience of the existing anti-Semitism, The Protocols was almost invulnerable to evidence indicating it was a fabrication and forgery [51,52]. ...
... Jewish people were framed as predatory capitalists and accused of instigating Marxism and other similar ideologies deleterious to the German nation. These conspiracies asserted that Germany was surrounded on all sides by omnipotent Jewish puppeteers who pulled the strings of the "democratic, capitalist West" and the "totalitarian, communist East" [51,52]. Thus, the war against international Jewry and World War II were treated as one and the same: the Jewish populations in Germany and abroad were considered enemy combatants whose objective was to destroy Germany. ...
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... The use of different ideological forms for political purposes was denounced by different authors in the late 1960s and during the 1970s (Habermas, 1968;Althusser, 1970;Laclau, 1977.) In subsequent decades, for his part, the classism behind the enlightened ideals was, in fact, outlined by various authors (Mosse, 1978;Poliakov, 1982;Todorov, 1985.) The cultural phenomena typical of Europeanism at the end of the 18th century shaped the modern forms of discrimination and racial segregation. ...
Conference Paper
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... iedenen Kampagnen, die sich um Krankheit und Hygiene oder Sexualität kümmerten, stets in Angst vor der Entartung des Individuums, der Familie, der ‚Rasse' und der ganzen Menschheit, sondern heute auch die Angst vor Ansteckung des Übergewichts und damit davor, vom Weg des homo oeconomicus -und damit zum Erfolg -abzukommen (vgl. Foucault 1979: 101f.;Mosse 1978Mosse : 82ff., ders. 1996. ...
... As David Harvey (2001) argues, despite the progressive edge of Kant in respect of his universalism, there remains a different Kant, often neglected by cosmopolitan thinkers, based upon the assumed superiority of white people. The European Enlightenment heritage which, as we shall see, was crucial for the production of the idea of human rights has long been connected to questions of hierarchy and ideas related to the cultural superiority of Europeans (Mosse 1978, Hunt 2000. The history of the production of universal categories like human rights is ambivalent in that it rests upon a hierarchy that sought to create a binary between the rule of white people and 'less civilised parts' of the globe. ...
... 70 The modern global racial system, made of a mixture of different 'racial projects', such as anti-Semitism and Afro-racism, arose during the building process of industrial, colonial and financial capitalism and the Western nationstates supporting it. Antisemitism was at the core of European nationalization based on the twofold process of nation-building and state-building, 71 whereas afro-racism -after the end of slaves trading -was at the core of Western colonial domination. 72 Both racisms -Afro-racism and Antisemitism -were at the core of the global process of modernization, the first one representing the bare labour-force, the second one representing the naked money; the first one having to do with the ground-rent, the second one with the money-interest, two different forms of capital. ...
... The Caucasian hypothesis was refined by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier (1769Cuvier ( -1832, who spread the idea that the Caucasian variety divided into the two branches of Semites and Aryans (see Bindmann, 2002;Gould, 1996). This theory was more influential in Europe than in North America and led to well-known consequences in German fascism (Mosse, 1978). Given the pseudo-scientific nature of the term Aryan, this concept is not used in current psychological studies. ...
... "Algumas reflexões sobre a filosofia do hitlerismo" é um texto de extraordinária incisividade e agudeza. Sabemos quanto a intuição levinasiana relativamente à ameaça apresentada pelo nacional-socialismo se revelará, em breve, tragicamente 2 Para uma reconstrução da história das perseguições nazistas e dos seus antecedentes na história da Alemanha se consultaram Mosse (1978), Fredrickson (2002) e Burgio (2010). correta 3 . ...
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... This is the sense of the term used byMosse (1985) in his 'history of European racism'. 7 Ethnicity, Race, and Racism ...
Chapter
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... Even though widely known as a progressive period, associated with rational thinking, a growing importance of science and scientific enquiry in European society, and the spread of secular, liberal and universalist values, the Enlightenment was also a project of categorisation, in which a (pseudoscientific) race discourse and modern racism, as such, developed. 30 Many of the period's most distinguished thinkers (among them German philosopher Immanuel Kant, Swedish biologist Carl Linné and Scottish moral philosopher David Hume) systematised earlier ideas of human differences and developed hierarchical race theories -in an effort to reconstruct the ancient construct of a 'Scala Naturae' -a Great Natural Chain of beings. 'Race' became a common term in the middle of the eighteenth century -the heyday of the European Enlightenment 31 and was used in theories that positioned the white race at the top of a perceived racial hierarchy and placed other 'inferior' races below. ...
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The case of Angelo Soliman − a black man raised in the royal courts of eighteenth-century Vienna who appeared during his lifetime to have attained significant social status and acceptance into bourgeois society, only to have his body stuffed and exhibited after death in a natural history museum − is discussed in the context of Enlightenment race theories at the core of a then-new ‘scientific racism’. This article explores his representation in its wider discursive and historical context, and critically reflects on predominant narratives and typologies associated with him. The piece then reflects on contemporary attempts to retell his story – via museum exhibitions, literature and film – some of which started to critically reflect on age-old European stereotypes of blackness used in earlier representations of Soliman. The piece promotes a discussion of Soliman’s life from a more critical, historically reflexive, de-colonialising and anti-racist position that questions white normativity and the scientific racism of the European Enlightenment and colonialism, the foundations of modern racism.
... One potentially fruitful way to attack the problem of relevance is the use of a case study to reveal the origins of a methodology or an episteme. Jennifer Hecht (2005) argues quite provocatively and convincingly that many of the features of our scientific modernity can be traced to a hereto obscure and highly controversial group of ethnologists, including the infamous Georges Vacher de Lapouge who was responsible in many ways for the eliminationist racial science of World War II and the Holocaust, although the transmission of Lapouge's ideas and their ultimate significance for the construction of scientific racism in the twentieth century remains unclear (see Manias, 2013;Mosse, 1985). Another exemplar of the case study approach can be found in the work of Christopher Renwick (2012) on early British sociology. ...
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... A novel global racial system, made of a mixture of different 'racial projects' such as anti-Semitism and Afro-racism, arose during the building process of industrial, colonial and financial capitalism and the Western nation-states supporting it. Antisemitism was at the core of European nationalization based on the twofold process of nation-building and state-building (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950;Mosse, 1978;Bauman, 1989;Balibar & Wallerstein, 1991), whereas afro-racismafter the end of slaves tradingwas at the core of Western colonial domination (see on this Fredrickson, 2002; see also Goldberg, 1993). Both racisms -Afro-racism and Antisemitismwere at the core of the global process of modernization and capital expansion, the first one representing the bare labour-force, the second one representing the naked money; the first one having to do with the ground-rent, the second one with the money-interest, two different forms of capital. ...
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The appropriation of nature under current capitalist conditions implies the intensification of processes of exploitation of labour, dispossession of peasants’ lands, indiscriminate extraction of raw materials, and racialization of all these processes. These dynamics reveal a double process: from one side we are witnessing a global racialization generated alongside socio-ecological phenomena that are changing for the worse food, energy, land, water, and raw materials regimes. From the other side we are witnessing an imperious use of racist speeches, claims, public measures and violent practices aimed to galvanized the racial and racist spirit of European and American white populations against migrants and refugees driven by the underlying forces formerly recalled. These two dynamics are strictly interlinked. For a long time, researchers dealt with local dynamics and phenomena of racism often forgetting how global, large, planetary processes of exploitation, appropriation, and dispossession sculpt these dynamics at the local level. This article aims to deal with these processes of global racialization and racism by an analysis of the process of accumulation based on ‘racialized unequal exchange’ fostering the idea that that unequal ecological exchange bases on historical division of people in different subordinate races in line with the global neoliberal order.
... Christ's ministry and personal character displayed a commitment to love, honour, compassion and-most importantly-a complete absence of the materialism which was felt to reflect a fundamental character trait of the Jews. 24 The logical conclusion of Chamberlain's assessment of the roots of the Christian faith was that genuine, German Christianity was founded on the revolutionary work of an Aryan Jesus. From a biblical perspective, this still left the problem of what to do about the Apostle Paul. ...
Preprint
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This is a draft section of a chapter in my forthcoming Ph.D., in which I explore the racial and theological theories of 19th-century German philosopher Houston Stewart Chamberlain. I also examine Chamberlain's influence on Nazism and suggest that he functions as an important link between late 19th century anti-Semitism and the emerging ideology of the Nazi Party.
... A novel global racial system, made of a mixture of different "racial projects" such as anti-Semitism and Afro-racism, arose during the building process of industrial, colonial and financial capitalism and the Western nation-states that supported it. Antisemitism was at the core of European nationalisation based on the twofold process of nation-building and state-building (Adorno et al., 1950;Mosse, 1978;Bauman, 1989;Balibar and Wallerstein, 1991), whereas afro-racism -after the end of slaves trading -was at the core of Western colonial domination (see on this Fredrickson, 2002; see also Goldberg, 1993). Both racisms -Afro-racism and Antisemitism -were at the core of the global process of modernization and capitalist expansion, the first representing the bare labour-force, the second one representing the naked money; the first having to do with the ground-rent, the second one with the money-interest, two different forms of capital. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
This paper aims to deal with processes of global racialization and racism. For a long time, researchers dealt with local dynamics and phenomena of racism often forgetting how global, large, planetary processes of exploitation, appropriation, and dispossession sculpt these dynamics at the local level. The link between local racisms and global processes of dispossession and deprivation seems now more plausible than ever, even in the case of new racisms rising up in many Western countries.
Thesis
p>If a fuller understanding of how the Holocaust has been assimilated by British society is to be achieved, television’s engagement with this catastrophe cannot be ignored, dismissed or derided as lowbrow ephemera. The present study will examine the specific contribution that this highly accessible conduit has made to collective memory of the Holocaust in Britain. It will map the key television initiatives selected from Holocaust-related programmes broadcast between 1946, when the BBC resumed transmissions after the Second World War, and 2001, when Britain’s inaugural Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) ceremony was held. The thesis begins by providing a critique of collective memory. It will then situate Holocaust-related television within the context of history on television in Britain and engage with debates surrounding the amenability of this medium to the recounting of history. The first chapter will examine Richard Dimbleby’s lifetime and posthumous contribution to collective memory. It will identify the crucial details that were omitted from his made-for radio accounts of Belsen when extracts were broadcast by the BBC in 1945. it will also show that his contributions are part of a wider trend to efface Jewishness within the context of the liberation of Belsen. The second chapter will elucidate the specific ways in which the television documentary The World at War: ‘ Genocide’ was a groundbreaking production in terms of its contribution to British television history and collective memory. It will show how it defied all expectations in respect of what ITV could offer. It will show how ‘Genocide’ was the first televisual treatment that sought to explain the origins of the Holocaust and to represent the catastrophe as a single historical narrative in its own right. The third chapter will examine Holocaust programmes and the way in which they were distributed across the British terrestrial television landscape throughout 1995. the final chapter will examine television’s specific contribution to Britain’s first Holocaust Memory Day.</p
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Thesis
Au début du XXe siècle, les armées européennes font dépendre le recrutement de leurs troupes d’un processus de sélection mené par des médecins militaires. Les candidats sont soumis à un examen au terme duquel les individus considérés comme inaptes sont écartés du rang. Au croisement de l’anthropologie historique, de l’histoire des sciences et de l’histoire des sociétés en guerre, cette thèse entend montrer que l’aptitude militaire est une notion aussi bien médicale qu’administrative et sociale, profondément dépendante du contexte politique dans lequel elle est invoquée. À la fois résultat et processus, la sélection médicale des recrues peut être abordée comme un dispositif : elle constitue un système organisé de manière rationnelle, influencé par des savoirs techniques et mis en œuvre par l’État par le biais de l’institution militaire. Ce dispositif a des visées pratiques : renforcer l’efficacité de l’armée, préserver la troupe de la menace épidémique et répartir équitablement les obligations militaires. Il a également une fonction stratégique de pouvoir. Du fait de la montée de l’eugénisme et des préoccupations liées à la puissance des armées de masse, les conditions, critères de l’aptitude, ainsi que les données statistiques issues de la sélection font l’objet d’un intense débat épistémologique et politique qui permet d’observer aussi bien les transferts et circulation des savoirs que la préservation d’irréductibles spécificités nationales.Dans un contexte de compétition internationale, l’intervention des experts médicaux dans le recrutement rejoint des enjeux stratégiques, politiques et sanitaires. En conséquence, l’ensemble du dispositif est placé sous haute surveillance. La Grande Guerre constitue à cet égard un moment critique. L’entrée en guerre met le processus de sélection à rude épreuve et l’examen médical est rapidement gouverné par une logique de rendement, qui fait primer la quantité des effectifs sur leur qualité. Face à l’affaiblissement de la sélection, émergent des entreprises de contestation qui parviennent à peser sur les gouvernements. La Grande-Bretagne se voit contrainte de procéder à une réforme en apparence radicale qui passe par la démilitarisation complète des opérations médicales du recrutement. En France, l’inquiétude reste circonscrite au débat technique et les solutions apportées sont le fait des hygiénistes. Elles relèvent de la gestion de crise sanitaire. Dans les deux pays toutefois, les mesures prises par la puissance publique visent essentiellement à restaurer la confiance en renforçant le poids des experts médicaux. Elles ont des effets limités sur le processus et les résultats de la sélection elle-même.
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Chapter
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Thesis
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Thesis
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