XENOPHOBIA AND MINORITIES
We need to help countries come back from cycles of isolationist nationalism, segregation, xenophobia and extremism.
by Arndt Emmerich
A Rohingya mother with her three children mourning for her elder son. - Saahmadbulbul, SalahuddinAhmad005, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Our countries are divided on many levels and scapegoating is tearing societies apart. Religious and ethnic minorities in particular have been deeply affected across the globe. Narratives have deemed them as internal enemies and fueled discrimination, using in some countries derogatory terms like “Corona Jihad”.
But in response we have also seen religious and community leaders adapt and showing incredible resilience: asserting their citizenship rights, complying with government regulations, supporting the COVID response, participating in online debates and efficiently moving to online teaching and virtual gatherings. Such effective responses raise the question, how to include minority organisations, religious authorities (of all faiths) and local neighbourhood churches/mosques within policy debates on COVID recovery themes and wider debates on socio-economic integration, given their effective service provision and crisis management.
Religious and community resilience
Dr Arndt Emmerich, Political sociologist and Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.
OUR SPEAKER
Arndt Emmerich
Dr Arndt Emmerich is a political sociologist and Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany. His research focuses on the government of religious diversity, as well as institutional change and persistence of religious authorities from a local perspective. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Britain, Germany and India.
In his recently published monograph, “Islamic Movements in India - Moderation and its Discontents”, he drew on insights from political sociology and studies on political Islam to analyse the ways religious movements participate in the democratic process and appeal to marginalised youth sections. During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, he investigates how Muslim minorities in Germany have been quick to respond, asserted their citizenship rights, complied with government regulations, issued religious guidance in favour of the emergency response and efficiently moved to online teaching during mosque closures.
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Individuals contributed with their image and content in a personal capacity, not as a part of their role in any institution or company listed on this website.
Uigurs living in the far west of China. https://www.flickr.com/photos/43423301@N07/, Uigurs-Turpan, CC BY-SA 2.0
Resources and points of view
We’ve been facing a pandemic of racism. How can we stop it?, article in The Conversation
People are debating whether the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 people is human-made, brought to us through the unintended and unforeseen side effects of industrial and exploitative modernity.
Xenophobia: Closing the Door, paper published at Harvard Education
In the early 20th century, during rising waves of immigration, white nationalist groups gained ground in American culture and governance, resulting in the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, which put low and strict national quotas on immigrants hoping to enter the U.S. This anti-immigrant xenophobia also supported the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, which incited anti-Catholic and antisemitic sentiments, and the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. During this period, interfaith efforts between Protestants, Catholics, and Jews strove to combat rising American xenophobia.
Study sheds light on how South Africa can best tackle prejudice against migrants, article in The Conversation
Xenophobia is a serious problem in South Africa. Cross-border migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the country face harassment and discrimination. Hundreds of incidents of anti-immigrant hate crime have been reported in the past decade alone. To address this, the government launched the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in March 2019.
