Bruno Chaouat Confronts the Rise of New Antisemitism in France in His Book, Is Theory Good for the Jews?

When French intellectual thought collides with the urgent politics of Jew-hatred, Bruno Chaouat is there—examining, questioning, and redefining how we understand both. 

A professor of French and Jewish studies at the University of Minnesota and an Honorary Fellow at Durham University’s Center for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society, and Politics, Chaouat became increasingly interested in the new forms of antisemitism in the 21st century. 

Born in a small town near Lille, France, Chaouat studied in France before moving to the United States, where he earned a PhD in 19th-century French literature at Emory University. He has taught at the University of Minnesota since 2002, following earlier positions in Kentucky and Ohio.

His book, Is Theory Good for the Jews?, published in 2016, examines the French response to the resurgence of antisemitism. The book critiques new forms of antisemitism and anti-Zionist trends that label Jewish people as either good or bad.

“And it's always been the case in the Western Christian world that ‘the Jew’ is going to be split between good and bad, the good Jew and the bad Jew,” Chaouat says.

Confronting new antisemitism

Inspired in part by the 2012 murders of Jewish children in Toulouse, France, Chaouat’s book confronts the new, politically charged forms of antisemitism emerging in 21st-century France. Chaouat explains that the children were targeted for being Jewish and murdered outside a Jewish school by an Islamist terrorist.

“It was a very, very, very disturbing, unsettling moment for me when I realized the responses were not what they should have been,” Chaouat says. 

The term new antisemitism describes a more modern form of anti-Jewish hatred. Unlike older forms rooted in far-right politics and invented by 19th-century racist German ideology, this term suggests there are new manifestations of the same phenomenon, such as Islamist antisemitism and anti-Zionism, he says. There are new forms of Jewish hatred happening in France involving real attacks like the 2012 murders.

New antisemitism has appeared most visibly in immigrant communities in French suburbs, he says. Young people who are shaped by experiences of marginalization and without the same historical memory of the Holocaust act out hostility towards Jewish people. 

“More often than not, attacks against Jews are explained or sometimes excused in the name of anti-racism and anti-Zionism,” Chaouat says. 

Chaouat quotes French philosopher Vladimir Jankelevitch: “Antizionism is the miraculous discovery, the providential opportunity which reconciles the anti-imperialist left with the antisemitic right. Antizionism gives permission to be democratically antisemitic.”

Reception in Germany

Professor Chaouat’s book was translated into German last year by a commercial publisher, an accomplishment Chaouat describes with pride. It was reviewed by two major newspapers, Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung and JungleWorld.

Chaouat was then invited to lead a series of well-received lectures across Germany over nine days, including stops in Bremen and Berlin. One of his favorite memories from this tour was speaking in a packed tavern in Berlin. He talked about the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and the response on American campuses.

He was invited to lecture again in November 2025 by the Institut Francais in Stuttgart, Germany, and the University of Stuttgart.

He says reactions in France have been limited because the book is currently only available in English and German. However, it did receive mention on French public radio. Faculty in the United States, including Michael Weingrad, Professor of Jewish Studies at Portland State University, have praised Chaouat’s work. 

This story was written by Lulu Jaeckel, an undergraduate student in CLA.