The Elements of Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia Dialectics

Abstract

In this paper, i analyse the components that make up the concept of so-called elements of anti-Semitism
as presented by Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. According to their multi-factorial analysis of
the sources behind the development of anti-Semitism in the 20th century, we can distinguish four basic
dimensions thereof: socio-economic, religious, ideological and ethical-moral. After a brief characterisation
of each of the elements of anti-Semitism, i then juxtapose them with the phenomenon of contemporary
Islamophobia in order to attempt to prove that the concept of the authors of the Frankfurt School has
a broader and non-uniform dimension; it can be treated as a philosophical-critical foundation for theoretical
research in the field of contemporary xenophobias and its sources.