Some readings on antisemitism in the anti-globalisation movement
Some of these are more scholarly than others:
- Bernd Sommer “Anti-capitalism in the name of ethno-nationalism: ideological shifts on the German extreme right” Patterns of Prejudice, Volume 42, Number 3, July 2008 , pp. 305-316(12). Abstract: “Sommer examines the (re-)emergence of anti-capitalist and anti-globalization themes within the ideology and discourses of the German extreme right. He argues that it would be short-sighted to interpret this development simply as another opportunistic attempt by the extreme right to incorporate Zeitgeist issues into its political agenda in order to appeal to a broader spectrum of supporters. An analysis of the latest campaigns of the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD)—the most successful extreme-right party in recent years—as well as the activities of groups that exist within the larger German extreme-right milieu, the so-called freie Kameradschaften, reveals that the taking up of social questions as well as anti-capitalist and anti-globalization themes marks a deeper shift within the political agenda of the extreme right in Germany. However, the analysis shows that racist and antisemitic issues do not disappear with this shift, but are linked with and incorporated into anti-capitalist and anti-globalization discourses.”
- Werner Bonefeld, Kosmas Psychopedis Human dignity: social autonomy and the critique of capitalism (Chapter by Bonefeld: “Nationalism and AntiSemitism in Anti-Globalization Perspective” – a Marxist analysis of the issue). See also Werner Bonefeld and Sergio Tischler “What is to be Done? Leninism, anti-Leninist Marxism and the Question of Revolution today“. See also Bonefeld, W. (1997), ‘Notes on Anti-Semitism’, Common Sense, no.21, pp. 60–76. Bonefeld, W. (2000), ‘The Spectre of Globalization’, in Bonefeld, W. and K. Psychopedis (eds), The Politics of Change, Palgrave, London. Bonefeld, W. and J. Holloway (1996), ‘Conclusion: Money and Class Struggle’, in Bonefeld, W. and J. Holloway (eds), Global Capital, National State and the Politics of Money, Palgrave, London.
- Andrei S. Markovits “European Anti-Americanism (and Anti-Semitism): Ever Present Though Always Denied“. Extract: “It is by dint of America’s proximity to Israel that the latter has become such a bogeyman to the anti-globalization movement. We were all witnesses to that ugly – but telling – political theater by demonstrators at the Davos meeting in 2003 when one person sported a Donald Rumsfeld mask and a yellow Jewish star of David (the kind the Nazis made the Jews wear everywhere in German-occupied Europe) with the word “sheriff” on it. His companion was dressed like a cudgel-wielding Ariel Sharon. They and their colleagues danced around a golden calf embodying money and wealth. And surely most, if not all, of the anti-globalist protesters in that scene viewed themselves as leftists, not as rightist. Similar openly anti-Semitic iconography was commonplace at anti-globalist meetings in Porto Alegre and Durban among others.”
- Josef Joffe “Nations We Love to Hate: Israel, America and the New Antisemitism” The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism. Extract: On Jose Bove: “So here was a spokesman of the anti-globalization movement who was conflating globalization with Americanization and extending his loathing of both to Israel.”
- Antiglobalism’s Jewish Problem, by Mark Strauss Foreign Policy 2003. Abstract: “Anti-Semitism is again on the rise. Why now? Blame the backlash against globalization. As public fears grow over lost jobs, shaky economies, and political and social upheaval, the far right and extreme left are seeking solace in conspiracy theories. Modern anxieties are merging with old hatreds and the myths on which they rest.”
- Mark Weitzman “MAGICAL LOGIC: GLOBALIZATION, CONSPIRACY THEORY, AND THE SHOAH” Simon Wiesenthal Center. Extract: “I have used Duke’s writings to sketch out some of the newer themes that have become part of the current far-right discourse. These motifs, such as the emergence of anti-globalization or ecology were often seen as part of the left or liberal agenda. They have been reworked to fit into right wing extremist discourse, retooled by giving them an antisemitic cast.” (p.1)
- Robert Wistrich European Antisemitism Reinvents Itself, American Jewish Committee 2005. Extract: “[In Germany,] Israel-bashing emerged as a highly popular mass spectator sport and as a point of convergence between far-right and left-wing anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. It enabled “pacifist” antiglobalists from the far right and left to embrace Osama bin Laden and the radical Islamists as part of a coming “anti-Zionist” and anti-American revolution.” (p.25)
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on February 3, 2010 bigmouth wrote:
that’s just ridiculous. it’s really obvious that it was meant to be a starshaped Sheriff’s badge, (Sheriffstern in German), like on the left here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RHSBadge.jpg, or this one: http://finickypenguin.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/sheriff-custom.jpg
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on February 4, 2010 negative potential wrote:
The first study cited is about the far-right, which as far as I know, was never part of the “anti-globalization movement” even in the broadest sense. It’s one thing to say that the far-right makes use of anti-globalist sentiment. Quite another thing to imply it was a component of the summit-hopping movement (which really doesn’t exist as a dynamic force anymore, and arguably hasn’t since after Genoa, though it might’ve taken the movement a few years to realize it was dead).
Seriously, Bob, that’s a Bahamas-level slander. There are plenty of problems with the anti-globalization movement, and yes, undoubtedly anti-semitism is one of them (though not to the extent that anti-Germans and fellow travelers would have one believe), but your argument shouldn’t have to rest on such sleazy amalgamations.
If we’re going to play six degrees of political slander, I think with a bit of effort I could probably link Bob From Brockley’s blog to the neo-fascist Junge Freiheit, especially given that Bob openly links to the “Anti-German Translation” blog, which links to Bahamas and other racists. Stones, glass houses, etc.
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on February 4, 2010 schalomlibertad wrote:
i agree with you negative potential that the far-right is not a real part of what we know as “the anti-globalization movement,” and that contacts between the movement and the far-right are limited. they do exist though, and it is not so rare. this is what convinced De Fabel van de Illegaal to quit anti-globalization campaigns, and to reformulate an anti-capitalist politics which they feel would better address the issue, and better prevent it from serving a reactionary agenda.
with that in mind, i would argue that it is critical for leftists to familiarize themselves with the right-wing, in order not just to combat capitalism, but also it’s reactionary opposition.
this leads to the comment from “big mouth.” how do reactionary views, such as the view that Cheney represents “Jewish interests”, become part of anti-globalization protest symbolism? i don’t know if the people who made that stupid puppet intended to make that point, but they certainly were oblivious to – or simply unconcerned with – the fact that many people think that already. and despite the puppeteers’ intentions, they broadened such ideas for the public, and by doing so within the context of self-identified left-wing movements, gave it legitimacy. if not intentional, it was certainly foolish and politically irresponsible.
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on February 4, 2010 schalomlibertad wrote:
i think one would really need to be really stupid (or looking to push antisemitism) to portray Israel as a leading economic country at the top of the WEF. but hey that doesn´t prevent people from doing so.
According to the “Global Competitiveness Report 2002-2003″ Israel ranked number 19 in “Growth Competitiveness Rank.” In 2004-2005, Israel fell to number 27.
But that’s just numbers. And who needs numbers anyway when you’ve got gut feelings?
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on February 4, 2010 bigmouth wrote:
I think one would really need to be really stupid (or looking for antisemitism) to read that symbol as a star of david
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on February 5, 2010 negative potential wrote:
I think anti-semitism on the left potentially originates from two sources:
1. an insufficient or crude understanding of capitalism (what various distinction-seeking German-speaking know-it-alls like to call “verkürzte Kapitalismuskritik”) that personalizes economic relations and/or insufficiently or incorrectly identifies the role of financial capitalism, and:
2. a classical anti-imperialism that sees Israel as a “colonizer” or “settler-colonialist” or “imperialist” state.
After wrestling with the issue of Left anti-semitism for a few years now, I have to conclude, especially in the midst of a massive economic crisis ignited in no small part by speculative ventures in the FIRE sector (finance, insurance, real estate), that variant number 1 is small to almost non-existent on the left. Please note, I say *on the left*. Obviously some variant of this argument will continue to exist on the right. But, at least in Germany, enough enlightenment has occurred around this issue in the past fifteen years that one encounters virtually *no one*, not even the crudest junge Welt reading anti-Imp, who deploys any variant of the finance = Jews argument these days.
(f anything, there has been a bending the stick too far in the opposite direction, a tendency to see capital *only* as an abstract social relationship, without sufficiently analyzing the role that the state, different fractions of capital, and contesting social classes play in actual empirically-existing capitalism. I think the Poulantzas renaissance in some parts of the radical left here arises from a dissatisfaction in the last few years of regarding capitalism *only* as the value-relation and disregarding the completely indispensable role that individuals and non-economic institutions play in defining the parameters of accumulation)
So that leaves variant number 2, which I think is the far more common source of left anti-semitism on both sides of the Atlantic. And I think as a result, critics of left anti-Semitism should make a turn towards analyzing in more detail the anti-imperialist worldview, and how it can lead to anti-Semitism. I think any anti-Semitism in what’s left of the anti-globalization movement is probably more a result of how Israel fits into the anti-imperialist narrative than with any sort of truncated understanding of finance capital.
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on February 5, 2010 schalomlibertad wrote:
I agree with you, Negative Potential, on the need to focus on “analyzing in more detail the anti-imperialist worldview, and how it can lead to anti-Semitism,” but not sure it can be easily separated from the foreshortened critique of capital which leads to the obsession with finance.
I am not sure that I agree with your statement that “one encounters virtually *no one*, not even the crudest junge Welt reading anti-Imp, who deploys any variant of the finance = Jews argument these days.”
Would you say then that the symbolic representation of Ariel Sharon as central to the World Economic Forum, or of “globalization,” by the puppeteers stems from an anti-imperialist ideology rather than a foreshortened critique of capitalism? Or, how exactly would you separate the two? Is anti-imperialist ideology not a part of the foreshortened critique of capital, it’s reduction to finance? I am not sure the two can be separated, but am curious about what you think about it.
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on February 6, 2010 BobFromBrockley wrote:
Sorry I only just checked back here to see all of this. First, some background. I have the wikipedia article on Anti-globalization and antisemitism on my Wikipedia watchlist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-globalization_and_antisemitism and one editor was proposing it by deleted as not important enough. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Anti-globalization_and_antisemitism#AfD_time_again
So, I very quickly put together a short list of possible sources, some better than others, just to make the case the topic is important. Once I did that, i thought I’d also share it here, to make the most use of my efforts.
Perhaps you are right, NP, that I should not have necessarily posted all of them, or perhaps should have put more of a disclaimer. Not being a German speaker and being a bit ignorant of the debates in the anti-German movement and on the German left, so can’t completely follow your criticisms – I don’t know enough about the racism of Bahamas.
On the first link, the point is not that the anti-globalisation movement is fascist, but that imagery and ideas circulate back and forth between the far right and the movement. Fascists have adopted the aesthetic and rhetoric of the anti-caps, while vulgar anti-capitalism falls back into potentially antisemitic areas. That’s all.
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on February 7, 2010 radicalarchives wrote:
Negative Potential says “The first study cited is about the far-right, which as far as I know, was never part of the “anti-globalization movement” even in the broadest sense. It’s one thing to say that the far-right makes use of anti-globalist sentiment. Quite another thing to imply it was a component of the summit-hopping movement..”
Der Fagel wrote extensively about the involvement of Edward Goldsmith in funding both Left and Right (esp neo-fascist New Right) opposition to globalisation pre-Seattle:
On the streets in Seattle, I remember the LaRouchites being there. The National Alliance (US neo-Nazis) set up an anti-g website. Paleoconservative Pat Buchanan was a prominent opponent of the trade pacts, and spoke in Washington DC on a Teamsters Union platform against the IMF/World Bank in 2000. (Buchanan has New Right ties as well). Third Position activists claim they participated in the demonstrations as individuals. Of course more recently so-called National-Anarchists joined the anti-APEC demo in Australia in black bloc.
Insofar as the Far Right did not openly participate in the street demos, it was not because it was not there politic; it would have been more in fear of their personal safety, or because they did not want to keep company with Dykes on Bikes and Anarchist Clowns.
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on February 23, 2010 Anti-German Translation wrote:
A response to Negative Potential (among other things) here:
http://antigerman.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/anti-germanism-bahamas-the-english-defence-league-and-the-gates-of-vienna/
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on February 25, 2010 TNC wrote:
Negative Potential:
The further one moves to the right in the U.S., the more one hears “anti-globalist” arguments. And they usually use that term rather than “anti-globalization”.
Radical Archives mentioned a few examples. You could also add Ron Paul and the Paulistas, talk-show host Michael Savage, Internet loon Alex Jones and his ilk and many others.
Basically, the variety of people and organizations who regularly go on and on about:
the Federal Reserve
the Bilderburgs
the illumanti
the New World Order
the Rothschild family
One World Government
Zionist Occupied Government (ZOG)
Banking Elite
Club of Rome
the North American Union
the Council on Foreign Relations
the Trilateral Commission
More here:
“When populist consumer groups, such as those led by Ralph Nader, forge uncritical alliances with business nationalists to rally against GATT and NAFTA, an opportunity emerges for the anti–elite rhetoric of right wing populism to piggy-back onto a legitimate progressive critique. ”
http://www.publiceye.org/sucker_punch/Anti-Globalism.html
here:
“The anti-WTO movement is extraordinarily broad, ranging from the revolutionary left to the centrist liberals and social-democrats who manage it all the way over to the neo-fascists and Far-Right.”
http://www.savanne.ch/right-left-materials/sakai-aryanwto.html
here:
http://home.alphalink.com.au/~radnat/debenoist/alain4.html
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on March 5, 2010 schalomlibertad wrote:
TNC,
Negative Potential wasn´t denying that the far-Right uses anti-globalization rhetoric. He was arguing that the far-right didn´t play a role in the anti-globalization movement, which he clarified as referring to the summit hopping protests.
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on March 5, 2010 BobFromBrockley wrote:
It is of course true that the far right did not play a significant role in the anti-glob movement – but it did play a role. Above are the examples of LaRouchites involved in summit-hopping stuff, for example.
I also agree with NP’s assessment of the summit-hopping movement: “really doesn’t exist as a dynamic force anymore, and arguably hasn’t since after Genoa, though it might’ve taken the movement a few years to realize it was dead”. Why that happened would be another good question to think about. For a start, it was incoherent, and the term “anti-globalisation” (as opposed to “anti-capitalist”, “alter-mondialist” or “global justice”) exemplify that incoherence. And then it was recuperated, both both the trad left, through front organisations like Globalise Resistance or Revo, on the one hand, and by new forms of establishment radicalism that arose from it, superstar spokespersons like Naomi Klein or George Monbiot. But then there was also the cancer of vulgar anti-impism. I think 2004 was the year I felt that the most, with the dominance of the World Social Forum in Jan 04 in Mumbai by Third Worldist/state socialist/trad leftists, and the hijacking of the European Social Forum in Oct 04 by Ken Livingstone and the various front organisations of the SWP.
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on January 24, 2011 Clarification: Anti-Germanism, Bahamas, the English Defence League, and the Gates of Vienna | apples from the Underground wrote:
[...] quite recently, my friend Bob From Brockley posted some materials at Contested Terrain about the anti-globalisation/far right nexus. This was the first item: Bernd Sommer [...]