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Competing with entrepreneurial diasporians: origins of anti-Semitism in nineteenth-century Russia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Pål Kolstø
Pål Kolstø*
Affiliation:
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo, PO Box 1003, Blindern, N-0315 Oslo, Norway
*
∗Email: pal.kolsto@ilos.uio.no
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Abstract

The popular, stereotype perception of Russian anti-Semitism is marred by a number of misconceptions. It is generally believed that it originated among the peasants, partly as a result of religious bigotry and partly as a reaction against an alleged Jewish exploitation. In actual fact, pogroms almost invariably started in towns and cities, and the main instigators were artisans and merchants and other people who plied the same trade as the Jews, later also professionals such as lawyers. Hence, economic competition rather than exploitation was the most important driving force. This is reflected in the writings of Russian anti-Semites and is also how most contemporary Jews understood their causes behind their ordeals. The Jews could be targeted for persecution because they were a diaspora group and did not enjoy the same protection as the indigenous population. Thus, even though the tsarist regime can be cleared of any suspicion that they deliberately whipped up the pogroms, they contributed to them by failing to give the Jews the same rights as other subjects of the empire.

Keywords

anti-semitismethnic competitionJewsdiscriminationpogroms
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 42 , Issue 4 , July 2014 , pp. 691 - 707
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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