Xenophobia, the fear or dislike of strangers, has been seen throughout the course of recorded history in the form of communal riots, racist attacks, religious hatred, and various kinds of genocide. Hindu–Muslim riots in India, Sinhalese–Tamil tensions in Sri Lanka, the persecution of Roma (Gypsies) in Europe, ethnic cleansing in places like the former Yugoslavia, purging of Shias and Sunnis in Iraq and Syria, skinheads attacking immigrants, and the Jewish holocaust are just a few obvious examples. The New Xenophobia studies this fear in a historical, philosophical, and socio-economic context. ... More

Xenophobia, the fear or dislike of strangers, has been seen throughout the course of recorded history in the form of communal riots, racist attacks, religious hatred, and various kinds of genocide. Hindu–Muslim riots in India, Sinhalese–Tamil tensions in Sri Lanka, the persecution of Roma (Gypsies) in Europe, ethnic cleansing in places like the former Yugoslavia, purging of Shias and Sunnis in Iraq and Syria, skinheads attacking immigrants, and the Jewish holocaust are just a few obvious examples. The New Xenophobia studies this fear in a historical, philosophical, and socio-economic context. Its primary concern is to trace the changes in xenophobic thinking over the past three decades, by showing how late or high capitalism has altered the image of the detested stranger, both building on and sometimes contesting former versions of xenophobia. In the process, the book also looks at forms of xenophobia under earlier or classical capitalism, and their imbrication with prior institutions, such as slavery. The New Xenophobia provides vital insights into racism and religious conservatism in the past, as well as fresh perspectives on the rise of ethnic, cultural, and religious politics in today’s age of globalization. It engages with notions of violence, capital, and power in original ways. Finally, the book argues that while emotional, cognitive, evolutionary, and other elements play a role in xenophobia, this fear is best understood—and dealt with—within a theory of power structures.