What is the issue?

‘The Jew’ as the historical and archetypal Other has been at the centre of public and scholarly interest for millenia. Over the past two decades we have evidenced the rise and spread of Antisemitism in Europe. 22% of hate crimes comitted in Europe in 2019 were directed against Jews, whereas their rate in the population is less than 1%.¹ 38% of European Jews feel unsafe and consider emigration.²

Our vision

We wish to shine a searchlight on the workplace as a situ of active and passive Antisemitism. Given how widespread and deep rooted Antisemitism is, surprisingly we know next to nothing about organisational Judeophobia, discrimination against Jews at work and institutional Antisemitism. We wish to explore how Antisemitism is similar to or different from other forms of discrimination and prejudice in the work context; and its consequences for work and management processes and procedures, for organisational culture and implications on personal and professional identity. Finally, we anticipate that focusing on the oldest and longest hatred in the world will provide insights into generic issues pertaining to the dark side of management and organization.

Our mission

We want to reduce Antisemitism in business and economics through cutting-edge business and management research that drives business practice and policy making. The workplace offers unique opportunities in combatting Antisemitism since equal opportunities legislation and diversity management practice are common throughout the developed economies and increasingly among the developing economies too. Thus, providing a mandate for experimentation with relevant workplace initiatives, allowing us to identify how Antisemitism influences the workplace and consequently providing means to combat Antisemitism.

Our objectives

Teaching – Research – Consulting/Training/Policy development – Public awareness - Support

We aim to

• Teach by offering an annual elective at WU and supervise Bachelor and Master theses

• Research (conceptually, empirically and theoretically) Antisemitism in the context of the Business and Economy

• Consult/Train to combat Antisemitism in organisations and the workplace by developing educational material for higher education students and staff

• Policy development to positively influence public policy in the fight against Antisemitism

• Raise public awareness by publishing articles and making public lectures

• Support by raising awareness of the topic

Activities

To achieve our vision, mission, and objectives, we engage in the following activities:

• Producing research agendas and publications

• Conducting a yearly elective course at the WU titled Antisemitism at Work in Austria that is open to the public

• Collaborating with scholars from different countries and universities

• Disseminating research outputs via our website and member community

• Providing information on the topic of Antisemitism

¹ EU-FRA. 2020. Overview of Antisemitic incidents recorded in the European Union 2009-2019

² EU-FRA. 2018. Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism. Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU.