Postwar Paradigms of Injustice

This course examines how the postwar political and moral framework has defined and responded to injustice. It explores how one form of hatred - the hatred and persecution of Jews - became a model of recognizing others, and what is gained or obscured when a particular historical experiences shapes broader theories of justice. Key questions include whether anti-anti-Semitic ethics are universal or particular, how framing anti-Semitism as a paradigmatic injustice has shaped contemporary thinking, and whether this centrality clarifies or limits our recognition of other injustices, including those perpetrated by Jews. Drawing on political theory, religious thought, and intellectual history, the course engages thinkers such as Hannah Arendt, Theodor Adorno, Jean-Paul Sartre, Frantz Fanon, and Emmanuel Levinas, alongside contemporary political debates. It also examines how these frameworks operate in practice through institutions and public discourse, shaping the visibility and interpretation of injustice today.