Of the many undesirable effects of the ongoing – and increasingly policy-induced – recession in Europe, one has received relatively less public attention: the resurgence of racist and xenophobic attitudes. This was already something of a problem especially in western Europe in the past decade when rightwing political forces demanded major restrictions on immigration and sporadic episodes of violence broke out against migrant and Roma groups.
As the economic crisis bites deeper and as the “austerity measures” enforced by governments cause more unemployment and more failure of small family-run businesses, bitterness and anger among the population will inevitably grow. The danger is that it will be directed not at powerful financial or even against governments that seem to bend like willows to every dictate of the market, but against more vulnerable targets that can be more easily attacked. The most obvious targets, of course, are the migrants, who often stand out also because of their perceived racial differences.