Intra-Cultural Xenophobia : Comparing xenophobia experiences by Chileans towards Colombians and by Colombians towards Venezuelan migrants

Abstract: Xenophobia is often treated as a phenomenon that mostly occurs between people from different cultures. However, xenophobia within the same culture is an ongoing issue that has not received as much research attention. The study on the impacts of migration and xenophobia is extremely important in order to help improve strategies to prevent tensions and conflicts between migrants and host country populations that occur at a daily basis around the world. For that reason, this research analyzes the motives and fears of migrants who essentially share the same culture, focusing on the treatment of Venezuelans in Colombia and comparing it to the treatment of Colombians in Chile, with the help of four different theories: new and old racism, false belief theory and relative deprivation. To reach a complete study the methodology takes on an abductive approach, managed through a qualitative desk study with a thematic analysis of the collected data. Most importantly, the findings show the diverse motives behind the exercising xenophobia in both cases. These explain both the fears of a declining economy, the feeling of losing rights and entitlements to migrants, as well as the overall behavior of differentiating between cultures and ethnic belonging.