Separation and Its Discontents: Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Anti-Semitism
Particular attention is paid to three major manifestations of Western anti-Semitism: the development of institutionalized anti-Semitism in the Roman Empire, the Iberian Inquisitions, and the phenomenon of Nazism. All of these movements exhibited a powerful gentile group cohesion in opposition to Judaism as a group strategy, and MacDonald argues that each may be analyzed as a reaction to the presence of Judaism as a highly successful group evolutionary strategy. Because of the repeated occurrence of anti-Semitism, Jews have developed a highly flexible array of strategies to minimize its effects. These include: crypsis during periods of persecution, controls on Jewish behavior likely to lead to anti-Semitism, and the manipulation of gentile attitudes toward Jews. This controversial work challenges prevailing views. Students and scholars involved with evolutionary approaches to human behavior and Jewish Studies will be interested, as will social scientists and historians in general. |
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... proposed genetic mechanisms based on kin recognition as an explanation for xenophobia , al- though others have proposed that the genetic mechanism may well depend on learning during development ( e.g. , Alexander 1979 , 126–128 ) ...
... proposed mechanism would not operate in the absence of an ingroup crowd and a perceived emergency , there is no implication that it would lead to a general- ized altruism . Of course , one could also propose that these phenomena are not ...
... proposal of several historians that the establishment of the Christian church represented a qualitative shift from the ... proposed . Feldman ( 1993 , 383ff ) and Simon ( 1986 , 232 ) interpret the intense anti - Semitism among the 4th ...
Contents
THEMES OF ANTISEMITISM | 27 |
REACTIVE ANTISEMITISM IN | 89 |
THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD | 115 |
Copyright | |
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Separation and Its Discontents: Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Anti-Semitism Kevin MacDonald No preview available - 2003 |
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Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Development Robert G. Burgess,Kevin MacDonald Limited preview - 2005 |