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This article discusses problems with Kurt Lewin's notion of self-hatred among Jews (Lewin, 1941/1948), and illustrates the ways in which the concept is used in identity politics. It argues that the way the notion of self-hatred is often used makes it problematic as a psychological concept because it requires that we accept particular definitions of group identities and particular political positions as central to those identities. Often, however, such issues are disputed by group members. Examination of the literature illustrates that it is rarely a straightforward decision whether those behaviours or attitudes identified as manifestations of self-hatred are best explained in this way. The function of the self-hatred concept in current debate over Israeli policy is described as an example of how arguments over identity are part of political conflict. In the case of current Middle Eastern politics, the concept of self-hatred is used by right-wing Zionists to label those who criticize policies of the current Israeli government as disloyal and pathological.
The notion of self-hatred and anti-Semitism among Jews began to be discussed by German writers such as Theodor Lessing, Fritz Wittels and Otto Weininger in the first decade of the 20th century (Baron, 1981; Gilman, 1986). This was followed by a number of German publications on the subject, culminating in a book by Lessing in 1930, Der judische Selbsthass (Jewish self-hate). In 1941 (republished 1948), Kurt Lewin wrote an account for an English-speaking audience. Social psychological studies of intergroup relations and stigma frequently cite Lewin as evidence that people may attempt to distance themselves from membership in devalued groups because they accept, to some degree, the negative evaluations of their group held by the majority and because these social identities are an obstacle to the pursuit of social status (e.g. Allport, 1954; Brown, 2000; Goffman, 1963; Horwitz & Rabbie, 1982; Johnson, Schaller, & Mullen, 2000; Jost & Thompson, 2000; Noel, Wann, & Branscombe, 1995). However, whilst the doll studies of Clark and Clark (1947), and studies which claim to show evidence of 'Black self-hatred', have been subject to much criticism of their methods and conclusions (e.g. Baldwin, Brown, & Hopkins, 1991; Banks, 1976; Cross, 1991; Katz & Zalk, 1974; Nobles, 1995; Owusu-Bempah & Howitt, 1999), Lewin's assertions have received less criticism in...