The Myth of the Jewish Conspiracy

The idea that a conspiracy of Jews is attempting to control the world is one of the most enduring myths of the modern age.

In The Myth of the Jewish Conspiracy, Robin Douglas traces the history of this fallacy and analyses how it has evolved from the eighteenth century to the present day. He shows how an idea which cannot possibly be true has nevertheless come to be believed and defended by intelligent and well-informed people within a series of mutually hostile groups: from French royalist Catholics to Arab nationalists, and from Soviet communists to the American far right.

Douglas demonstrates that the myth’s origins lie in religious sectarianism, while its development was driven by widespread paranoia about occultism, the Devil and the Antichrist. The myth has migrated from this original context to secular subcultures because it appeals to a persistent streak of irrationalism in the human mind: one which continues to pose a threat to Jewish communities and to liberal democracy.

Drawing on his extensive research into the history of minority religious communities and their relationship to the hegemonic majority, Douglas provides a rich history of the myth of the Jewish world conspiracy and illustrates how it serves to undermine pluralistic liberal societies.