Being anti-antisemitic is an act, not an identity

Evidence

Perhaps I should not so much think of myself as a subject, here, not even primarily as an agent or actor. I have an identity, to be sure, a complex set of identities even. I remain the master of my domain, in other words, whatever domain that is, but being anti-antisemitic may not have much to do with that. It probably should not be considered, nor accounted for, by way of my identity. It is not really who I am, not quite an aspect of that identity (or identities). Is it not rather, and primarily, something that I do? Whether as a professional or as a volunteer, engaged in occasional and ephemeral acts or committed to the endurance of strong lines of action, I do not really have to be anything to be anti-antisemitic. No prior identity is required, and none is thereby constituted. There is no particular subject here and anyone can therefore become part of the struggle. — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 1196

Categorization

• XREF: Resonates with the social capital literature (Coleman) on action over identity, and with contestations over identity politics in contemporary antiracist theory.
• DEEPTHINKING: A dense, paradigm-shifting reframing of anti-antisemitism from a situated identity to a practice anyone can join—inverts the usual identity-first logic of political mobilization.