»Jewish« as a Political Concept

In this essay David Nirenberg, an internationally renowned specialist for relations between Jewish, Christian and Islamic cultures throughout history, focuses on the concept of »Jewish« as a continuous political concept in western history. The main emphasis is placed not on Judaism as a historical and living religion, but on the attribute of »Jewish« as a figure of Christian thought.

Without knowing these traditions related to the history of ideas, it is not possible to understand Carl Schmitt`s political theology or the images of Judaism that gave rise to Schmitt`s theory. On his intellectual journey, Nirenberg uses early Christian, medieval and modern examples to show how »Judaism« and »Jewish« gained additional meaning as the vocabulary of political language. For example, in Christian governmental theory, »Jewish« was the embodiment of the dangerous attraction of secular power. Karl Marx described Jewish Emancipation »in its final consequence« as the »Emancipation of humanity from Judaism«. For Nirenberg, the constancy of the concept of the »Jewish«, and the ways in which it is used, gives cause for deep reflection on the history of ideas, concepts and discourse.

An essay concerned with the history of ideas on the concept of »Jewish« as a political hypothesis in western thought.

The Author
David Nirenberg, born in 1964, is a professor of medieval history and social thought at the University of Chicago.