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enable those who are interested in such an agenda to find the necessary analytical tools.
The Sir Peter Ustinov Institute in Vienna has its “raison d’être” in fighting the negative consequences of prejudices. If you fight something, you have to know about it—as much as possible. To be convinced that a certain prejudice is “bad” is not enough when it comes to effectively and consistently counteracting it. The political (educational, social, cultural) fight against the negative results of existing prejudices has to be based on an in-depth insight into the reasons behind the absence of reason, into the structures and functions of the phenomena called prejudices.
This motivation has to be seen in the context of the contradictions demonstrated by the outcome of academic research—as can be seen in this handbook: prejudices are not just negative; they do not have a negative function necessarily. Under specific circumstances, prejudices can be considered positive—not in the sense of creating positive “ideal types”, but in the sense of simplifying social exchange without violating the basic assumptions of human rights.
The concept of the handbook has been developed with a view to providing a summary of the academic knowledge concerning prejudices. The framework of the publication has been developed in cooperation with the Vienna-based Institute of Conflict Research.
The basic idea was to invite internationally renowned scholars to write essays about the “state of the art” regarding six major groups of prejudices and six major groups of academic disciplines, thus giving the handbook its structure—twelve essays and a comprehensive introduction. It has been the decision of the editors, in collaboration with the advisory group, to decide about the set of disciplines and the groups of prejudices. In all the cases, an alternative arrangement could have been thinkable. Why not a special chapter on philosophy? Why not a chapter on the hatred of Islam?
At the end, it came down to setting priorities—and to making sure that all the significant facets of the general phenomenon of prejudice are discussed in the book. Philosophy, even if not discussed in an explicit chapter, is included explicitly or implicitly in other chapters. Islamophobia, while