Erasing the Other

Living in Denmark, one of the European countries with the most restrictive laws against immigration and immigrants—and refugees now—I could only be very interested in Tabish Khair’s new book, The New Xenophobia, and I can say that I was not disappointed.

Of course, it is fair to say that I do know Khair well, as we both teach in the same university, and often drink coffee together at the cafeteria. Many of the themes present in the book have been discussed before, during a break between classes. There is a huge step, however, between ideas being thrown around in an intellectual ping-pong match, and a formal, finished essay. I was therefore both curious and a little apprehensive to read the book, as I hoped for the best, but was also ready for a lesser good.