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Emile Durkheim and the Dreyfus Affair. I. Social background - Within the context of studying the relationship between Jewry and Christianity in classic sociology the reactions of Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) to the Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906) certainly deserve our scholarly interest. It is true Durkheim does not speak explicitly or amply about the relationship between Jewry and Christianity, but he has been through the Dreyfus Affair, which disturbed him deeply. His reactions throw a bright light upon the latent anti-Semitism in France, which during the affair becomes manifest and widespread. This manifestation compels Durkheim, a famous French sociologist, to take a clear stand on the issue. His stand finds its expression in two distinct ways : socially and in writing. First of all in his attitude towards and social activities prompted by the fate of the Jewish captain Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), which was narrowly allied with the adventures of the Third Republic. In the second place Durkheim reacts in two occasional writings, namely in L’Individualisme et les intellecluels (1898) and in his contribution to an Enquête sur l'antisemitisme (1899). The present article is dealt exclusively with the first reaction, i.e. the social activities engaged in by Durkheim in response to the Dreyfus Affair and the threat to the Republic. The treatment of this social reaction has necessitated an introduction to the political and social situation in France during the Third Republic. Special attention is paid to the Dreyfus Affair. This is followed by a discussion of the Jewish background of Emile Durkheim, whose full name was David Emile Durkheim. Durkheim’s Jewish origin, his experiences as a French Jew with a high social status and his own attitude toward Jewry and Judaism call for attention in this respect. In the final part of the article we present a conclusion and several statements by Durkheim about Jews and Jewry from his more strictly sociological publications.
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How to Cite: Goddijn, H. (1989) “Emile Durkheim en de Dreyfus-affaire: I. Maatschappelijke achtergrond”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen. 34(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95016