The French Debate over On the Jewish Question: From an Anachronistic Trial to the Crisis of Secularism

This article analyses the debate over an `antisemitic Marx' in the French context. Since the republication of On the Jewish Question in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the French intellectual field has seen continuous conflict between supporters of this `thesis' (Mishari, Kaplan, Birnbaum) and their detractors, who are sometimes militant (J. Aron, Bensaid) and sometimes academic (De Fontenay, Traverso), including those involved in the Grande edition Marx et Engels (Clochec). First, the article examines at length the French debate which spans over 50 years. Second, building on the insights garnered from this debate, it tackles the limits of materialist criticism of religious views. In light of the contemporary crisis of secularism in France, this problem forces Marxist and critical thinkers (Tosel, Meziane) to reassess the issue of religious minorities and their `assimilation' to the `national majority'.