conflict & communication online, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2022
www.cco.regener-online.de
ISSN 1618-0747

Sina Arnold
A practical definition

While the critical debates around the IHRA Working Definition – for example in the form of Peter Ullrich’s expert opinion – are an intellectual step forward, it is often forgotten that the definition was primarily developed for practical use: as a manageable definition for practitioners in the field of education, the judiciary or public authorities. For further work with and on definitions it is necessary, on the one hand, to bear in mind the need for orientation in this practical work against antisemitism. On the other hand, more emphasis should be placed on “taking into account the overall context”, as demanded by the definition itself. Rather than understanding the illustrative examples of contemporary antisemitism as a simple checklist, their discursive and social context needs to be analysed.

The author:
Dr. Sina Arnold is a research associate at the Center for Research on Antisemitism and project manager at the Research Institute for Social Cohesion, Technical University of Berlin. Her current research interests include anti-Semitism in the migration society, left-wing anti-Semitism, institutional racism and politics of remembrance.

Address: Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung, Technische Universität Berlin, Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 104-106 (KAI 1-1), 10553 Berlin, Germany.
eMail: arnold@tu-berlin.de