Antisemitism and the Struggle for an Equitable Society: Disrupting the Old-New Exclusions of a Changing Status Quo

Session Submission Type: Preconference

Description

This proposal builds on the success of three previous ASA preconferences on the sociology of antisemitism in 2019, 2023, and 2024, as well as a Special Session on the sociology of antisemitism at the 2025 ASA meeting, and it seeks to advance their work at a crucial time. Antisemitism has been on the rise in the US since the mid-2010s, as reflected in data on antisemitic behavior, antisemitic attitudes, and Jewish perceptions of antisemitism. In just the past year, the home of Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor was firebombed (April 2025); Kanye West released an overtly Nazi glorifying song titled “Heil Hitler” (May 2025), amplifying antisemitic rhetoric to millions; Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered in Washington, DC (May 2025); and a peaceful demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas was firebombed, resulting in serious injuries and one fatality (May 2025). Anti-Jewish violence has erupted outside the US as well, most notably in the murder of 15 people, including a Holocaust survivor, at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, Australia (December 2025). In line with the ASA’s 2026 meeting theme, “Disrupting the Status Quo: Putting Sociology to Work for a More Equitable Society,” our proposed preconference presumes that a more equitable world is one with less antisemitism, and it focuses on evidence-based solutions to a serious and worsening social problem.

In this preconference, we will gather colleagues to advance the theoretical and empirical aspects of the sociology of antisemitism. The preconference will feature three sessions devoted to paper presentations. Each session will be followed by Q&A and discussion.

Participants will gain a better sociological understanding of antisemitism and possible solutions to this social problem, which expands upon the theme of the annual meeting: “Disrupting the Status Quo: Putting Sociology to Work for a More Equitable Society.”

Sub Unit

• Preconferences

Presenters

• William I. Brustein

• Iqbal Akhtar, Florida International University

• Peter Gluck

• Gunther Jikeli, Indiana University-Bloomington

• Alexander Lowie, University of Florida

• Joshua Eisenstat, New York University

• Marcus Eisentraut, University of Cologne

• Pascal Kolkwitz-Anstötz, GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

Session Organizers

• Chad Alan Goldberg, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Arnold Dashefsky, University of Connecticut