ABSTRACT
The assumption that hostility is a marginal phenomenon, has focussed some attention on the role of individuals and the importance of prejudice. The Cultural forces observation encourages a consideration first of all of the social context, defined in its broadest sense, in which hostility developed towards immigrants, refugees and minorities. In defence of newcomers and minorities who came from further afield position might be pointed out after 1945 Jewish and Irish groups have faced less hostility than Blacks and Asians: examples of discrimination and collective violence directed against the two former, for example, are less in evidence. The National Front has found no difficulty in attacking Blacks and Asians but, at the same time, keeping anti-semitism at the centre of its ideology. In the light of these observations, and the earlier emphasis on ambiguity and ambivalence, with hostility varying from situation to situation and from context to context, the complexity of responses becomes more apparent.
