Understanding Anti-Semitism and its Impact: A New Framework for Conceptualizing Jewish Identity

While a great deal of research has been done on identity development around awareness of racism and heterosexism, little has been conducted on understanding how Jews come to make sense of the impact of anti-Semitism (anti-Jewish oppression) on their lives. This article, based on my qualitative dissertation (MacDonald-Dennis, 2005 MacDonald-Dennis, C. 2005. “Competing narratives: The interplay between racial and ethno-religious identity among Ashkenazi Jewish undergraduate anti-racist peer educators”. Unpublished doctoral dissertation University of Massachusetts Amherst. [Google Scholar]) that explores the unique racial, ethnic, and ethnoreligious positionality of Jewish undergraduates, examines the developmental processes that Jewish undergraduates go through as they begin to understand and, hopefully, overcome anti-Semitism. I discuss the Jewish ethno-religious target development model that arose from the results of the study. Implications for social justice education are offered.