Right to Difference
French Universalism and the Jews
Universal equality is a treasured political concept in France, but recent anxiety over the country's Muslim minority has led to an emphasis on a new form of universalism, one promoting loyalty to the nation at the expense of all ethnic and religious affiliations. This timely book offers a fresh perspective on the debate by showing that French equality has not always demanded an erasure of differences. Through close and contextualized readings of the way that major novelists, philosophers, filmmakers, and political figures have struggled with the question of integrating Jews into French society, Maurice Samuels draws lessons about how the French have often understood the universal in relation to the particular. Samuels demonstrates that Jewish difference has always been essential to the elaboration of French universalism, whether as its foil or as proof of its reach. He traces the development of this discourse through key moments in French history, from debates over granting Jews civil rights during the Revolution, through the Dreyfus Affair and Vichy, and up to the rise of a "new antisemitism" in recent years. By recovering the forgotten history of a more open, pluralistic form of French universalism, Samuels points toward new ways of moving beyond current ethnic and religious dilemmas and argues for a more inclusive view of what constitutes political discourse in France.
About the Author
Maurice Samuels is the Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French and director of the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism at Yale University. He is the author of "The Spectacular Past: Popular History and the Novel in Nineteenth-Century France" and "Inventing the Israelite: Jewish Fiction in Nineteenth-Century France".
Reviews
"Timely and thought-provoking, 'The Right to Difference' will interest scholars and lay readers alike. Ambitious in scope, the book offers a broad survey of French universalism's multifaceted attitude toward the Jews since the eighteenth century. Just as importantly, it represents a much needed intervention in public discussions about the ambiguous legacy of the French Revolution, the politics of laicite, and debates over the assimilation of religious minorities in France today. At a time when France's Jews are in the news more than ever before, Samuels offers illuminating new ways of thinking about their position, and, through that analysis, about the politics of difference in modern France" – Lisa Moses Leff, author of "The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust"
"Particularism and Universalism: ever since St. Paul, the Jews have served as a stage upon which to act out the tension between these two ideals. That tension did not diminish with revolution, democracy, modernity, or secularization, nor did figures of Judaism lose their utility in these revolutions. Today Zionism and Israel continue to play a special role in fervent debates about the relationship between claims of universal justice and those of particularist, often minoritarian identities. 'The Right to Difference' is a clear and critical guide through this history and these debates, a guide all of us who live in this age of increasingly passionate convictions should be grateful for" – David Nirenberg, author of "Neighboring Faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the Middle Ages and Today"
"Samuels presents a highly nuanced and sophisticated analysis of French universalism through the exploration of its various historical iterations as it has engaged with the Jews of France since the French Revolution. This superb study is a major contribution to the scholarship on the themes of assimilation, acculturation and minority distinctiveness, and diversity that continue to be vexed problems in France to this day" – Aron Rodrigue, author of "Jews and Muslims: Images of Sephardi and Eastern Jewries in Modern Times"
