Social Criticism and the “Jewish Problem”

This study is situated at the intersection of the philosophy of social science and antisemitism studies. It aims to investigate the reemergence of the “Jewish problem” in contemporary works of social and political criticism by unearthing its theoretical-philosophical foundations and conditions of possibility. The main goal of the project is to examine the academic disciplines, established in the last three decades, that can be gathered under the common heading of “activist social science.” These include “critical whiteness studies,” “critical race studies,” and “settler-colonial studies.” How do these disciplines construe “Jewish whiteness” and envision “Israeli settler colonialism”? How and why does the “Jewish problem” reemerge in critical works in these disciplines, and what are the methodological and discursive means by which they strive to achieve their critique? The project’s objective is to examine and deconstruct the type of critique presented by these “activist” disciplines. In so doing, the study will rely on the writings of the Frankfurt School, especially works by Horkheimer, Adorno, and Habermas that specifically address the problem of critique.

• The manuscript will be submitted to Indiana University Press in 2022-2023.