Introduction

This introduction chapter situates the book's inquiry into the entanglement of antisemitism and sexism in the wake of the events of 7 October, understood as a civilisational rupture that renders renewed critique imperative. Drawing on Critical Theory in the tradition of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, it conceptualises antisemitism as both ideology and practice and as a central axis of modern social critique. The chapter reconstructs how Critical Theory analysed antisemitism dialectically, integrating socioeconomic, political, and psychoanalytic dimensions, and extends this framework to examine its structural affinities with sexism. While rejecting any equation of the two, the chapter identifies shared ideological mechanisms, psychosocial roots, and historical mutability. It outlines the book's comparative scope and theoretical aims, arguing for an actualised feminist Critical Theory capable of grasping contemporary forms of antisemitism and sexism after 7 October.