Xenophobia is the fear, dislike, mistrust, and avoidance of individuals whose culture, race, or religions is different from one’s own (Kogan, 2017). The negative responses stem from the perception that another individual, or group, is strange or believed to be different. This can include suspicion and prejudice against an individual or group from another geographical location different from your own, which includes but is not limited to ethnic, racial, religious, nationality or gender. Xenophobic behaviours can stem from existing prejudices, myths, and others of groups perceived to be outside of ones’ social group.
I chose this term because the fear, dislike, and distrust of people that are perceived to be different is the same narrative of creating the self and other for the purpose of constructing a nation state (Lan, 2008). While racism is often used interchangeably with xenophobia, it is different because it has ties to the belief of foreigners or outsiders that goes beyond ties to racial or ethnic groups. Xenophobia can exist without physical interaction with another person from a different location and is rooted in the perceived belief that another individual or group is different. Xenophobic behaviours can take on several forms which can result in negative interactions or the avoidance. Xenophobia can be observed through the selection of words in news articles that indicate legal status of individuals discussed. This includes coded language such as descriptions of people that highlight status such as migrant, foreign, immigrant, or temporary to describe an individual in order to differentiate possible difference. Negative emotions towards groups of people can be subtle and difficult to recognize since it is often implicit thus hard to pinpoint. While there may be a general sense of what xenophobia is, the distrust, suspicion and dislike is easily embedded in policies which are overlooked when there is no consultation from groups policies are disadvantaging. Xenophobia can include indirect negative consequences, which are harder to detect and prove.
Academic Sources:
Kogan, I. (2017). Anti-semitism and xenophobia. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 378-391. doi:10.1057/s11231-017-9113-6 Lan, P. (2008). Migrant Women’s Bodies as Boundary Markers: Reproductive Crisis and Sexual Control in the Ethnic Frontiers of Taiwan. Signs, 33, 833-861. doi:10.1086/528876
Keywords: xenophobia, distrust, racism
Author: CulturalDragonfly
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