The drawing of the Mark of Cain : a socio-historical analysis of the growth of anti-Jewish stereotypes / Dik van Arkel.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 497-575) and indexes.

Table of contents; Preface; Introduction; Ch 1. The Historiographical Background; Ch 2. Abortive Anti-Semitism; Ch 3. The Origins; Ch 4. Stigmatization, Nascent Hostility, and Social Distance; Ch 5. Jewish-Gentile Relations in Eastern Christendom and the Permissiveness-cum-Terrorization Hypothesis; Ch 6. A Dead Reckoning: The Growth of an Anti Jewish Stereotype in Western Europe; Ch 7. Refutations and Predictions; Ch 8. A Prognosis Checked: A Survey of Medieval Jewish-Gentile Relations in England; Ch 9. A Survey of Jewish-Gentile Relations in Italy.

Print version record.

Anti-Semitism is an extraordinary historical phenomenon. Over some two thousand years it has manifested itself in different guises, from mild to genocidal in different places and at different times. Under what conditions do anti-Semitic movements emerge? What evokes large-scale stereotyping? What does it take for people to act upon these stereotypes? And in what way does anti-Semitism differ from other forms of racism?

These are big questions, and in The Drawing of the Mark of Cain they are addressed head-on. The author has devoted his entire career as a distinguished social historian to resolving these and similar problems. He has sought his answers through a highly original, consistently analytical process of historical conjecture and refutation.

The book addresses key episodes taken from the full history of Jewhatred. It focuses chiefly on the pre-modem period, but pursues its themes as far as Hitler's rise to power. The author's ultimate objective is to contribute to the prevention of future outbursts by enhancing our understanding of the societal and ideological circumstances that appear to be their precondition.

This is a fascinating book. It is the result of many years of thorough, wonderfully rich and innovative investigation into a very complex subject. Van Arkel's methodologically and conceptually stringent - and at the same time factually solid - research has yielded this Iucid and fundamental inquiry into the history of anti-Semitism that no student of the subject should ignore. --Book Jacket.

English.

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