Christopher Caldwell quotes

Christopher Caldwell is an American journalist and author known for his writings on politics and culture. His work often explores topics such as immigration, European society, and contemporary conservatism. He has contributed to prominent publications and written influential books that spark public debate. Here are 11 of his quotes:

[Y]ou see evidence in the united Europe-in which there is free circulation of people and ideas-of a much more homegrown European-style antisemitism. You see a sort of waning of vigilance. You see a rise of the kind of clubby, dinner-party type antisemitism in England, where it is very strong. So I do think there is a new antisemitism, but I'm afraid it hasn't so much replaced the old antisemitism as exists alongside of it.

Christopher Caldwell

[T]he escalation of the radicalization of Muslims in Europe, I think, has, in the past 2 or 3 years – and you know the incidents – the Nice truck bombing, the Berlin Christmas Fair bombing, those sorts of incidents, I think, have really worried Europeans.

Christopher Caldwell

[L]aws against Holocaust denial have done more harm than good. On a practical political level, I think that they give very intolerant mischief makers a cheap and easy way to pose as something more exalted than what they actually are, as sort of martyrs of free speech.

Christopher Caldwell

The thing I worry about in Europe is that there is a logic of escalation in some of this. That the people whose voices aren't heard have to do things to make their voices heard. Do you know what I mean? They'll have to, you know, like, demonstrate and that kind of thing.

Christopher Caldwell

Europe can be the scene of world history even if it's not the protagonist in world history, but it seems to show very little sign of being the protagonist.

Christopher Caldwell

When an insecure, malleable, relativistic culture meets a culture that is anchored, confident and strengthened by common doctrines, it is generally the former that changes to suit the latter.

Christopher Caldwell

If one abandons the idea that Western Europeans are rapacious and exploitative by nature, and that Africans, Asians, and other would-be immigrants are inevitably their victims, then the fundamental difference between colonization and labor migration ceases to be obvious.

Christopher Caldwell

Bizarrely, as immigration began to change Europe at its economic and cultural core, the political vocabulary remained the same as when immigration had been a fringe phenomenon. People kept talking about restaurants.

Christopher Caldwell

In no country in Europe does the bulk of the population aspire to live in a bazaar of world cultures. Yet all European countries are coming to the wrenching realization that they have somehow, without anyone's actively choosing it, turned into such bazaars.

Christopher Caldwell