The psychology of Western European neo-racism

Europe is on the verge of an unprecedented era of social, economic, and political cooperation. Yet, there is resurgent racism and xenophobia in Western Europe, and in Central and Eastern Europe many of the fragments of the old Soviet Empire have disintegrated into ethnic violence and genocidal warfare. Prejudice is the common source of this ethnic hatred, xenophobia, and racism. The Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction is involved in developing those concepts which will provide the links between the psychological understanding of individual human beings and how they create and sustain destructive conflict in social, political, and ethnic groups. The development of prejudice in an individual and its underlying psychological mechanisms are detailed as part of the formation of identity. The fundamental structures of prejudice are then discussed using crucial new concepts in the psychology of large group processes involved in violent group hatreds.