"The Aliens Within" is an academic book that addresses the issues of discrimination, stigmatization, and xenophobia, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the cultural and historical roots of these fears, particularly concerning race, poverty, and migration. The contributions in this volume come from various disciplines, including cultural studies, literary and film studies, history, ethnology, sociology, cultural geography, classics, music, and linguistics. The investigations range from disease discourse in ancient texts to contemporary representations of refugees and the challenges of integration. The collection is divided into three thematically interconnected parts: stigmatization of the racialized underclass, pathologization of the Other, and the construction and juxtaposition of collapses. It examines the changing and recurring contradictions in the tropes of belonging and exclusion, as well as the emergence of new identities and expressions of counterculture.