LA MARSEILLAISE AND THE MOB : RE/DECONSTRUCTING ANTISEMITISM AND PROTEST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG, 1937
LA MARSEILLAISE AND THE MOB : RE/DECONSTRUCTING ANTISEMITISM AND PROTEST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG, 1937

Summary/Abstract: This case study of a provincial protest at the University of Strasbourg is an early reflection on the value of microhistory in understanding antisemitism in late interwar France, a topic which has hitherto remained poorly theorized. The article begins to set up a framework for a broader project studying the social life of antisemitism, too often relegated to the realms of ideology, culture, and national politics – worlds located in Paris. It attempts to move beyond clichéd formulations of a “wave of antisemitism” sweeping across Europe, formulating more interesting and complex proposals regarding perception, behavior, and quotidian interactions in a diverse urban community in a volatile borderland between France and Germany. In exploring holistic visions of ideas’ “lives” in a particular socio-economic context, this approach may also lend insight into the mechanics of the expression of other kinds of prejudice – words and acts – we continue to see across Europe and other societies today.

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