Join us for a roundtable discussion on The Background of Xenophobia: Cultural and political roots of anti-immigrant fanaticism in Europe and United States. Participants include Seyla Benhabib, Benjamin Barber, Ian Buruma, Jytte Klausen, and Giancarlo Bosetti. This event is part of the Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations Series.

In Europe and the United States, economic and social uncertainty, the arrival of new waves of immigrants, and the persistence of a perceived threat from Islamist terrorist groups have laid the groundwork for xenophobia. We see extremism bubbling to the surface in the furious demonstrations against Park51 or in anti-Hispanic rhetoric, in hyper-nationalist parties in Europe or in the pseudoscientific anti-Islamic literature in the Norway shooter’s possession. This roundtable discussion will examine the cultural and political roots of these fanaticisms as they affect public life from the Netherlands to France, from Arizona to New York.

Seyla Benhabib is Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University and Director of its Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics.

Benjamin Barber is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos, as well as president and director of the international NGO CivWorld, and its annual Interdependence Day event.

Ian Buruma, is the Luce Professor of democracy, human rights & journalism at Bard College, NY and is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, the New York Times Magazine, New Republic, New Yorker, The Guardian.

Jytte Klausen is the Lawrence A. Wien Professor of International Cooperation at Brandeis University and an Affiliate at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University.

Giancarlo Bosetti is the director of Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations.