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The fear of strangers: why do some people reject immigration?

Alan Manning


Exaggerated anxiety followed by gradual accommodation is one of the most consistent features of Western immigration history - with first Catholics, then Jews and now Muslims feared. In thinking about issues of cultural difference and social cohesion, we need a path between alarmism and complacency.


26 June 2026


Economics Observatory


https://www.economicsobservatory.com/the-fear-of-strangers-why-do-some-people-reject-immigration

This Blog is published under the centre's Labour programme.