The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has launched a new research center that will probe the “causes and manifestations of contemporary antisemitism.”
The ADL Center for Antisemitism Research will build on the ADL’s over a century of research into “core antisemitic beliefs and attitudes” in order to “deepen understanding of the world’s oldest hatred through a combination of scholarly investigation and empirical research.”
The center will enhance curate and enhance the investigation of antisemitism through an applied research network and initiatives to measure, test and identify the impact of tools used to fight hatred of Jews.
“For decades, ADL has studied the presence of antisemitism in society through periodic surveys examining the prevalence of antisemitic attitudes, through research into historical tropes and their contemporary manifestation, and by categorizing and counting incidents,” ADL said in a statement.
“ADL is now seeking to build on that body of research by applying the latest scholarly techniques and serving as a clearinghouse for academic study and research into modern-day antisemitism.”
ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said: “Antisemitism has remarkable staying power, and we cannot fight this unique hatred effectively without understanding its underpinnings and modern variants.”
“Our new center seeks to apply best-in-class research and scholarship to deepen our understanding of both the root causes of antisemitism and the most effective tools to combat it – whether it manifests as world domination conspiracies, Holocaust denial or anti-Zionism,” Greenblatt added.
The Center for Antisemitism Research will curate and conduct scholarly investigations by sponsoring fellowships, conducting imperial research, organizing a speaker’s series and publications, and hosting a forum for the dissemination and discussion findings.
The Center will “build an evidence base to identify which interventions against antisemitism work most effectively” – including developing metrics to assess the efficacy of interventions against antisemitism – and also give out grants to programs, organizations and researchers who ”provide foundational evidence to guide interventions.”
“We are trying to get at a deeper understanding of the causes, manifestations and evolution of antisemitism,” said ADL Vice President Matt Williams, who will run the Center. “Our research will be laser focused on getting to these root causes of antisemitism and identifying which interventions are the most effective for combating it.”