The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gelman, Emmaia.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (395 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oakland, CA : University of California Press, 2026.

Summary:

The first-ever history of the Anti-Defamation League and its determined, century-long alliance with Western empire. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is a major US political organization, yet its politics have gone largely unexamined. While the ADL is often portrayed as a defender against antisemitism and racism, its history shows that it is better understood as a proponent of the racial state and US empire. From "correcting" the embarrassing racial difference of immigrant Jews to policing the leftist politics of Black, Arab, and Jewish groups, the ADL pursued a conservative version of civil rights paired with aggressive anti-communism. Even as it became an authority on white nationalism in the 1970s, the ADL joined with the emerging anti-left, anti-Arab, and pro-Western neoconservative movement. ​This history presaged the ADL's work, from the 1980s to the present, in developing the hate crimes framework as a pro-state policing project, which soon merged with the "War on Terror," the "antisemitism scare," and anti-Palestinian racism. The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State presents the ADL's history through its conflicts with social justice movements, illuminating the ADL's outsize role in shaping the ideas about race and rights that have underwritten US empire.

Contents:

Cover

Praise for: The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Introduction

1. White Settlers and Immigrant Riffraff: Before World War II

2. Red Jews, Anticolonial Arabs, Black Leftists, and Colorblind Anticommunism: The '50s and '60s

3. White Anxieties, "Black Antisemitism," and "New Antisemitism": The '60s and '70s

4. Israel and Neoconservative Internationalism: The '70s and '80s

5. Schoolbooks and Rulers: The '80s

6. Hate Crimes and Hegemony: The '80s and '90s

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-520-41045-9

9780520410459

OCLC:

1586552468