“Denialism”: a new university discipline for thought control
- July 11th, 2010
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Michael Hoffman’s note: Questioning any aspect of the gigantic corpus of accusations against the Germans grouped under the Newspeak generic of “Holocaust denialism” is emerging as a new university subject. Presumably we will see, in the not too distant future, a doctorate conferred in “Denialism.” One can envision the future curriculum: Bishop Williamsonism 101 and David Irvingism 202.
Can anyone imagine anything so absurd? What if Catholic university theology departments created studies in “Immaculate Conception Denialism” and linked these to their law schools, as the University of Leicester is doing in England?
This is all about treating the natural human right of skepticism as an entymological pathology, as if it were an anomaly, when the authentic anomaly is the imposition of the dogma of Holocaustianity itself, the last truly believed religion in the otherwise agnostic West.
And what of the denial of the holocausts in Dresden, Nagasaki and Gaza? Will these be included or excluded from consideration in the study of “genocide denial”? If I were a betting man, I’d wager they will be excluded.
Certain types of “denial” are perpetrated by the very people seeking to establish an exclusive “Holocaust” mythos limited solely or mainly to the sufferings, both real and imagined, of Judaic persons during World War II, an exceptionalism familiar to students of the Talmud and its supremacist culture. Here’s the phantasmagoric press release:
Holocaust and genocide denial are phenomena whose consequences reach far beyond the expression of individual opinions. The views of David Irving, Nick Griffin or Bishop Richard Williamson tend to reach audiences that benefit from denialist arguments for specific political purposes, and the consequences of denialism are not confined to the immediate discourse.
Denialism also carries significance for more than one academic discipline. Historians are directly affected, as deniers frequently claim to carry out “revisionist” historical research against “orthodox” interpretations and thereby pose the question whether their conclusions merit or indeed require a reaction in serious academic debate.
To lawyers, denialism raises questions about the limits of freedom of speech – particularly when domestic laws are taken into account which prohibit certain forms of denialism.
To political scientists, sociologists or psychologists the motives of deniers and the repercussions of their statements are of particular importance.
There is therefore need for a contextual perspective of holocaust denial which fosters a better understanding of the perspectives of these disciplines. The School of Historical Studies (Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust Studies) and the School of Law at Leicester University have established an interdisciplinary initiative to investigate denialism, but also other aspects relating to the Holocaust and to genocide.
This workshop is intended to be an initial meeting and appraisal of this field of research, but it will also facilitate the creation of a network of scholars and expert commentators who are interested in this field.
It will focus on questions such as:
How do we define Holocaust denial?
How can it be proven?
What are the intentions behind Holocaust denial?
What is the impact of laws against Holocaust denial?
Abstracts are invited from all disciplines and to all aspects of this field of research, to be submitted to Dr Olaf Jensen (oj6@le.ac.uk)
or Dr Paul Behrens (pk124@le.ac.uk)
Abstracts should be no longer than 1 A4 page.
Closing date for submission: 1 August 2010
