| Popis: |
Public anxiety in Western Europe about immigrants and refugees hasincreased due to the 2007-2008 financial and economic crisis, the2009-2010 Euro crisis and the 2015 refugeecrisis in Europe as well as the terror attacks in Brussels, Berlin, Paris,London, Nice, and Manchester. Havingbeen more of a societal and economic issue from the 1960s to 1990s, immigrationhas become a security issue in the last couple of decades. According to theCopenhagen School of security studies, securitizing speech acts areparticularly important for turning a non-security matter like immigration intoa security issue. Thus, immigration was transformed into an “economic security”issue threatening the well-being of Europeans due to their allegations ofimmigrants taking away their jobs. It also became a “cultural security” issueas a supposed threat to European identity, religion, and life style. Mostimportantly, immigration was seen as a “state security” issue due to theperception that it was a threat to European countries’ peace, and stability,and territorial integrity. Framing immigration as a security issue is mainly observed throughthe discourses of the political elite. Of these elites, Western Europe’spopulist radical right parties have concentrated on this issue more than theothers. Indeed, their central discourse has securitized the immigration issue,which they have used for their political benefit by continuously highlighting societal and cultural insecurity. These parties have played a significant role inpromoting rhetoric and policies that increase public anxieties concerningimmigrants. To gain the votes of the economically and culturallysuffering groups, the parties’ leaders have securitized immigration throughspeeches, social media posts, and political advertising. As a sign of theireffectiveness prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, a number of parties becamejunior partners in European coalition governments during the late 2010s. The purpose of this paper is to examine the securitization discourses of radical populist right parties in Western Europe concerning the recent flow of refugees mainly coming from Syria. To that the paper will concentrate on the discourses of the leaders of populist radical right parties in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. |
