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D. Renshaw ‘Prejudice and paranoia: a comparative study of antisemitism and Sinophobia in turn-of-the century Britain’

Historian Daniel Renshaw is a lecturer at Brunel University in London. His research is based around the study of Jewish and Irish Catholic Communities with their interaction with radical politics in East London between the years 1889-1912.

The following article primarily discusses prejudice attitudes aimed at the Chinese and Jewish minorities within late 19th and early 20th century Britain.  The article starts off by distinguishing that both Chinese and Jewish minority groups were characterised as “fundamentally alien to British society” to which the author mentions how both minorities were both often portrayed negatively throughout the British press.  The author also establishes throughout this article that anti-semantic and Sinophobia language had been presented by Conservatives, Liberals and the Labour movement within the 1906 general election. It was known that the Liberal Party and the Labour movement claimed that the Boer War had been portrayed as a “Jews war”  motivated by Jewish financial interests in South Africa. The author also illustrated that the conservatives saw the Chinese minority as an economic and social threat to domestic works forces. The author then again emphasized contemporary attitudes towards the Jewish community as he includes an extract of a 1904 Socialist pamphlet that revealed that Jewish tailors should not be welcome in England at all. This itself demonstrates the hostility towards the Jewish minority throughout this period.

The author also establishes that both the Chinese and Jewish minorities often endured an exploitive capitalist system, as they would commonly work greater hours and in worse conditions for less money.  The Chinese were commonly known to be sailors as the majority of them worked as stokers, these jobs were not seen as attractive to Europeans since this trade necessitated men spending long periods away from home. As a result, Chinese people became established in port cities such as London, Liverpool and Cardiff.

Again the author presents how the Chinese and Jews were negatively portrayed throughout Britain as he established that they were often associated as carriers of various foreign diseases, to which Sinophobic and antisemitic propaganda tended to be portrayed immigrants were viewed as dirty with lacking basic hygiene measures. In particular, the author illustrates how the Jewish refugees were seen as violent anarchists, Nihilists and career criminals. He also establishes that the Chinese were represented as being addicted to narcotics both opium and Gambling. Throughout this source, it was also established that Chinese men were often accused of distributing opium-laced sweets to young girls as well as giving alcohol to children and luring women int laundries with flattery and gifts before seducing them.

Lastly, the author establishes the outbreaks of serious physical violence outbreaks against both communities throughout the Edwardian era, to which he comes to the conclusion that it was relatively rare however there was some accounts of sporadic violence occurring throughout East London, Leeds and Manchester as he establishes that this was commonly occurring between gangs of children and youths. The author furthers this argument by establishing that more serious anti-semantic violence occurred throughout Limerick in Ireland within areas of small Jewish communities. Overall the article written by historian Daniel Renshaw aims to provide an insight of how the Jewish and Chinese Communities were negatively portrayed, it also effectively provides detail of how both ethnic groups experienced prejudice attitudes throughout late 19th and early 20th century Britain.

One thought on “D. Renshaw ‘Prejudice and paranoia: a comparative study of antisemitism and Sinophobia in turn-of-the century Britain’

  1. This blog post is well-written, well-structured and clearly explains the article at hand. The post highlights the main arguments set out by Renshaw, depicting that the article generally focuses on Chinese and Jewish minorities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The post shows the intensity of British attitudes towards minorities, giving examples such as derogatory language and that even political parties used. The post explains the economic inequality of Britain at this time, and that many minorities were blamed for certain diseases. Furthermore, the post explains that the author highlights the violence towards these minorities. Overall, the post explains the original article in a coherent manner that summaries the main points.

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