XENOPHOBIA

'Xenophobia' is a fear or contempt of foreigners or strangers.^[1] It comes from the Greek words ξένος (''xenos''), meaning "foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (''phobos''), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe fear or dislike of foreigners or in general of people different from one's self.

Contents

General

Xenophobia in History

Sociobiological Explanation

See also

References

External links

General

As with all phobias, a xenophobic person is aware of the fear, and therefore has to believe at some level that the target is in fact a foreigner. This arguably separates xenophobia from racism and ordinary prejudice in that someone of a different race does not necessarily have to be of a different nationality. In various contexts, the terms "xenophobia" and "racism" seem to be used interchangeably, though they have wholly different meanings (xenophobia being based on place of birth, racism being based on genetic ancestry). For example: to dislike a black person from France because they are French is Xenophobic, but if one does not like them because they are black, it is racism.
For xenophobia there are two main objects of the phobia. The first is a population group present within a society, which is not considered part of that society. Often they are recent immigrants, but xenophobia may be directed against a group which has been present for centuries. This form of xenophobia can elicit or facilitate hostile and violent reactions, such as mass expulsion of immigrants, or in the worst case, genocide
The second form of xenophobia is primarily cultural, and the objects of the phobia are cultural elements which are considered alien. All cultures are subject to external influences, but cultural xenophobia is often narrowly directed, for instance at foreign loan words in a national language. It rarely leads to aggression against [individual] persons, but can result in political campaigns for cultural or linguistic purification. Isolationism, a general aversion of foreign affairs, is not accurately described as xenophobia. Additionally, in the world of science fiction, xenophobia may refer to a fear or hatred of extraterrestrial cultures or beings.

Xenophobia in History

===Xenophobia in Japan===
From 1641 to 1853, Japan had a policy of exclusion of virtually all foreigners (not merely an avoidance of foreign relations), known as 'national closure', or sakoku. In the early 19th century, Mito scholars advocated ''jōi,'' the forceful expulsion of 'barbarians', though almost none existed there. By the middle of the 19th century, with outside pressure mounting, some Japanese scholars and leaders tied 'Western Learning' and 'Nativist Studies' (kokugaku) toward goal of nation building.^[2] Nihonjinron,
Currently, the only legal protection foreign citizens enjoy from xenophobic practices is Article 14 of the Constitution, which states: 'all of the people shall be equal under the law,and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic, or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin[...]'. Japan ratified the ICERD in 1995, but has failed to enact appropriate legislation as directed by Article 2b, simultaneously using 'freedom of expression' rights as a shield against the stipulations of Article 4a and b. The 2006 report by the UN Special Rapporteur for Racial Discrimination, Doudou Diène, was highly critical of current Japanese xenophobia and on-going discriminatory practices, which include difficulties in access to housing, accommodation (hotels) and other commercial establishments open to the public (spas, bars, night-clubs, restaurants and others) based on physical appearance and myth, and bullying at school of foreign-looking children.^[3].
===Xenophobia in The Dominican Republic===
Since the formation of the Dominican nation, it has been promoted by the government that Dominicans are racially, culturally and ideologically different than Haitians, and in order for the Dominican Nationality to survive, Haitian influence must be controlled or eliminated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antihaitianismohttp://www.websterfl.edu/~corbetre/haiti//misctopic/dominican/conception.htm
In 1937, more than 50,000 Haitians were killed by Fascist Dictator Rafael Trujillo in an attempt to "whiten up" the country. http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/dominican/antihaiti.htm
According to an Amnesty International and The Human Rights Watch, physical attacks against Haitians have increased since 1992 and reports of the lynching of Haitians surfaced as late as 2006. http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGUSA20070321002 Homes of suspected Haitians are sometimes burned to the ground and police roundups of "Haitian looking" people are conducted on a regular basis. According to another New York Times report in 2004, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Haitians are denied birth certificates, medical care, education and social services because of their race and decendancy. http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR270012007 http://www.http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/786433623r246231/ http://www.websterfl.edu/~corbetre/haiti//misctopic/dominican/conception.htm http://haitiforever.com/windowsonhaiti/esagas2.shtml
===Xenophobia in Thailand===
Residents in Thailand of a western ethnicity are referred to as "farang", a slang type word being similar in context to "chink" as used in native English speaking countries, as chink is a shortened version of "Chinese" used to label anyone of East Asian appearance, whereas farang is a shortened version of the word for "French" and is used to label anyone of European appearance. The use of the word farang is commonplace in Thai society, and there are no laws to prevent the use of racial slurs, due in part to the nationalistic mindset of the Thai people, in wishing to label and alienate people with different ethnicities and appearances.
The Thai national anthem, broadcast on loudspeakers twice per day throughout the country, the words of which boast pride in the country's independence, and which state that every Thai will give his or her last drop of blood to prevent a single inch of the country ever being owned by a foreigner, backs up this nationalistic mindset.

Sociobiological Explanation

The effects of Xenophobia (dislike against the genetically dissimilar out-group and nepotistic favoritism towards the genetically similar in-group) are analyzed by many sociobiological researchers. Some see it as an innate biological response on the part of the evolved human organism in inter-group competition. In his famous book, ''The Ethnic Phenomenon'', Pierre L. van den Berghe, anthropological professor of the University of Washington, discusses the concepts of kin selection, ethnic nepotism and the biologically rooted tendency of people that are more similar genetically to behave more generously toward each other. Frank Salter, an ethological researcher of the Max Planck Institute, deals with similar "taboo" topics in his controversial book, ''On Genetic Interests: Family, Ethnicity and Humanity in An Age of Mass Migration''; this work has been praised by well-known sociobiology innovator E.O. Wilson as "a fresh and deep contribution to the sociobiology of humans." Salter posits an "innate group-descent module" in the human mind to explain the universal occurrence of ethnic nepotism. In Salter's view, favoritism towards one's own ethnicity is an evolutionarily based, "objective" value and, from a political science perspective, Salter proposes a "universal nationalism", in which all planetary ethnic-based communities or nations have the right to preserve their own heritage and distinctiveness.

See also

★ Discrimination

★ Intercultural competence

★ Islamophobia

★ Nationalism

★ Nativism

★ Pauline Hanson

★ Racism

★ Xenocide

★ Xenophily

★ Xenology

★ Xenophobe

★ Race and crime

References

1. Definition at Reference.com
2. Wakabayashi, Bob Tadashi, ''Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early-Modern Japan'', Council on East-Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1986. ISBN 0674040376
3. http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=92

External links

★ Treatment of Xenophobia

★ h2g2 Xenophobia Edited Guide Entry