MCB ReDoc Faith, Society and Citizenship Seminar series Presents:
Beyond Competitive Victimhood: The Politics of Holocaust Memory in a Multi-Ethnic Society
Adam Sutcliffe, King's College London
Friday, 16 December, 6.15-7.30 pm
Room S8.08. King’s College London, Strand
Collective memory is always political. The memory of the Holocaust, despite the fact that is often invoked as the ultimate transcendental event of incomparable horror, is also inescapably related to the ever-shifting politics of international relations and inter-ethnic rivalries. In his presentation, Adam Sutcliffe will offer a brief overview of the political and cultural forces that have shaped the changing significance of the Holocaust for Jews, in Israel, the United States and Britain, in relation to Zionism, collective identity, and changing attitudes toward particular non-Jewish groups. He will then offer some thoughts, drawing both on some recent theoretical work and on some current political observations, on the place of the Holocaust, and of other historical memories, in contemporary perceptions of anti semitism, Jewish identity and Jews, exploring also how this might relate to Islamophobia and attitudes toward Muslims. Adam hopes this will stimulate a wide-ranging discussion on both the problems and possibilities of Jewish / Muslim relations in contemporary Britain.
Dr Adam Sutcliffe is Senior Lecturer in European History at King’s College London. His research focuses on Jewish / non-Jewish relations, intellectual history, and the history of radicalism from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. He is the author of Judaism and Enlightenment (2003), and the co-editor, most recently, of Philosemitism in History (2011).
Directions to venue:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/campuses/strand/Strand.aspx
MCB ReDoc 2011-12 Seminar Series: Citizenship, Faith & Society
The ReDoc Seminar series is intended to open a space for discussion of research and work in progress on Muslims in Britain and related topics concerning or affecting the Muslim community. Short presentations will be followed by Q&A and participative discussion.
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