xenophobia, fear and contempt of strangers or foreigners or of anything designated as foreign, or a conviction that certain foreign individuals and cultures represent a threat to the authentic identity of one’s own nation-state and cannot integrate into the local society peacefully. The term xenophobia derives from the ancient Greek words xenos (meaning “stranger”) and phobos (meaning “fear”). Xenophobia implies the perception that not only is it impossible for certain people designated as foreign to integrate into one’s own society but also that they pose a threat to the integrity of that society.
Xenophobia can be identified throughout history in many forms, including discrimination and violence toward religious and ethnic groups, racist attacks, the formation of hate groups, and genocide. One of the most enduring forms of xenophobia is anti-Semitism, hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or ethnic group. The Holocaust represents one horrific end point of xenophobia, when Jewish citizens—as well as the Roma people and other peoples with minority identities—were subject to a systematic extermination at the hands of the Nazis.
Another important historical example of xenophobia is Japan’s policy of sakoku (a Japanese word meaning “closed country”), which was implemented in the 1630s and lasted until 1853. In the early 1600s, Japanese rulers had become convinced that the spread of Christianity constituted a threat to their power. After failing to entirely eradicate Christianity, in the 1630s Japanese leaders issued a series of laws that made it illegal for most foreigners to travel into Japan and for Japanese citizens to leave the country and return.
Xenophobia continues to exist throughout the world. Influxes of migrants and refugees from areas of conflict or economic hardship have led to a xenophobic backlash among native citizens in many countries, perhaps most notably in Europe and the United States. Far-right politicians in Europe and the United States have promoted openly xenophobic attitudes and promised the institution of exclusionary laws. In Europe the form of xenophobia known as Islamophobia has gained particular traction since the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001. Proponents of Islamophobia argue that the religious practices and beliefs of Muslims, like those of the Jews before them, make it impossible for them to integrate into the majority culture, and thus they present a threat to that culture. In the United States, Islamophobia and discrimination against migrants from Latin America have become embedded elements of the political discourse. During the 2020s, xenophobia stoked by fears of COVID-19 led to an increase in anti-Asian discrimination and violence internationally, since the SARS-CoV-2 virus was first discovered in China. Pandemic-driven xenophobia also emerged within China: foreigners often faced discrimination while the government promoted a zero-tolerance strategy with respect to the disease.