David Hirsh

David Hirsh (born 29 September 1967) is a Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London and the founder of Engage, a campaign against academic boycotts of Israel.^[1]

Hirsh is a graduate of City University, London. He holds an M.A. in Philosophy and Social Theory and a PhD from University of Warwick. He wrote his dissertation on Crimes Against Humanity and International Law. ^[2]

Hirsh won the Philip Abrams Prize for the best first book in sociology from the British Sociological Association in 2004 for his book Law Against Genocide: Cosmopolitan trials. As well as an argument concerning the significance of "cosmopolitan law", this book contains a full account of the trial of Andrei Sawoniuk in Britain in 1999 for crimes committed as part of the Holocaust in Belarus in 1942.

As a student of contemporary antisemitism, Hirsh is known for coining the term "Livingstone Formulation," after its effective use by the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. In Hirsh’s formulation, when an individual like Livingstone, with alleged antisemitic attitudes is confronted with this allegation, he immediately reverses the charge, accusing his accuser of "playing the antisemitic card" to stifle debate.^[3][4]

Hirsh has taken a leading role in opposing the proposed boycott of Israeli universities by British academics.^[5][6] Hirsh told The Guardian, "It may not have anti-semitic motivations, but if you organise an academic boycott of Israeli Jewish academics but no-one else in the world, that is an anti-semitic policy."^[7]

Hirsh is the founding editor of the Engage website, a resource for those working to understand and to oppose contemporary antisemitism.^[2] Along with several other Engage editors, he was a leading activist in the National Organisation of Labour Students during the 1980s.

Bibliography

• Law against Genocide: Cosmopolitan trials, (2003) London: GlassHouse Press, Cavendish Publishing
• Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: Cosmopolitan Reflections, The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) Working Paper Series #1, New Haven CT (2007)
• Law against genocide in Freeman, M, (ed) Law and sociology, (2006), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• The trial of Andrei Sawoniuk: Holocaust testimony under cross-examination in Social and Legal Studies, Vol 10, Issue 4, pp 531–545 (2001)
• With Fine, R, The decision to commit a crime against humanity in Archer, M and Tritter, J (eds), Rational Choice Theory: Resisting colonization,(2000) London: Routledge
• Accusations of malicious intent in debates about the Palestine-Israel conflict and about antisemitism. The "Livingstone Formulation",'playing the antisemitism card' and contesting the boundaries of antiracist discourse. in Transversal. Zeitschrift für Jüdische Studien. University of Graz, Centrum für Jüdische Studien. Graz: Studienverlag ISSN 1607-629X, Vol 11, Issue 1, (2010) pp 47 - 77

References