Xenophobia

XENOPHOBIA IS the discrimination or hatred of foreigners, either defined as outsiders or as those who are in effect part of one's own society but perceived as incommensurably different from the majority. The most pointed, long-term, and widely documented case of xenophobia in history is that of anti-Semitism.

Cavalier explanations of the dynamics of anti-Semitism, in particular, and xenophobia, in general, that treat them as results of innate characteristics of a culture or as a consequence of economic malaise in the larger society are not only insufficient, but are also conducive to the normalization and perpetuation of the hatred and violence commonly associated with such exclusionary practices. Instead, the problem of hatred of foreigners and intolerance for ethnic, religious, racial, and cultural difference has to be put into the larger context of the dominant culture in a society.

There are, and historically have always been, observable links among migration, racism, discrimination, ethnoreligious stereotyping and xenophobia. Increased ethnoreligious and racial diversity in societies makes the reality of the heterogeneity of human communities ever more obvious. In the absence of political, legal, social, and economic mechanisms to ensure mutual respect and to mediate relations across differences, xenophobia and various related forms of racism become manifest. Interestingly, xenophobia has been a chronic problem that ailed and still ails many of the advanced Western societies rather than just the so-called third or developing world. Particularly among European societies that received substantial numbers of immigrants since World War II, both as workers and as asylum-seekers, migrants have become the very targets in internal disputes about national identity. This is indicative of the fact that with the mass elimination and departure of Jews from Europe, xenophobia did not necessarily loosen its grip across the continent.

In general, however, xenophobia is by no means an exclusively European phenomenon. In the age of nation-states as opposed to empires, as societies grapple with changing realities of their multiethnic, multireligious or multiracial makeup, there has been a marked increase in discrimination and violence directed against migrants, refugees, and others who are categorized as different in many parts of the world.

Although racism and xenophobia are distinct phenomena, they often overlap. While racism generally implies distinctions made based on difference in physical characteristics, such as skin coloration, hair type, facial features, etc., xenophobia denotes behavior-based discrimination arising from the perception that the other is foreign to, or originates from outside, a given community or nation. Racism is an ideological construct that assigns a certain race or ethnoreligious group to a position [Page 948]of power over others on the basis of physical and cultural attributes as well as economic wealth. Generally, it involves the establishment and sustenance of hierarchical relations where the self-appointed superior race exercises domination and control over others.

Xenophobia, on the other hand, refers to attitudes, prejudices, and behavior that reject, exclude, and often vilify its targets, based on the perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society, or nation. In many cases, it is difficult to distinguish between racism and xenophobia, as they exhibit similar motivations for exclusive and demeaning behavior and, in particular, violence. However, there is one element that may be missing in racism that is often manifest in xenophobia: religious identity. Manifestations of xenophobia occur not only against people with different physical characteristics, but also against those who look and act similar or even have shared ancestry but who are believed to be of a different and assumedly dangerous religious conviction.

...