The visual international politics of the European refugee crisis: Tragedy, humanitarianism, borders

2021 ◽  
pp. 001083672198936
Author(s):  
Lene Hansen ◽  
Rebecca Adler-Nissen ◽  
Katrine Emilie Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Visual Environment ◽  
Border Control ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Visual Content ◽  
Visual Discourse ◽  
News Photography ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
The Eu

The European refugee crisis has been communicated visually through images such as those of Alan Kurdi lying dead on the beach, by body bags on the harbor front of Lampedusa, by people walking through Europe and by border guards and fences. This article examines the broader visual environment within which EU policy-making took place from October 2013 to October 2015. It identifies ‘tragedy’ as the key term used by the EU to explain its actions and decisions and points out that discourses of humanitarianism and border control were both in place. The article provides a theoretical account of how humanitarianism and border control might be visualized by news photography. Adopting a multi-method design and analyzing a dataset of more than 1000 photos, the article presents a visual discourse analysis of five generic iconic motifs and a quantitative visual content analysis of shifts and continuity across four moments in time. The article connects these visual analyses to the policies and discourses of the EU holding that the ambiguity of the EU’s discourse was mirrored by the wider visual environment.

The “Refugee Crisis,” Immigration Attitudes, and Euroscepticism

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 883-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Stockemer ◽  
Arne Niemann ◽  
Doris Unger ◽  
Johanna Speyer
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Eu

Between 2015 and 2017, the European Union (EU) was confronted with a major crisis in its history, the so-called “European refugee crisis.” Since the multifaceted crisis has provoked many different responses, it is also likely to have influenced individuals’ assessments of immigrants and European integration. Using data from three waves of the European Social Survey (ESS) — the wave before the crisis in 2012, the wave at the beginning of the crisis in 2014, and the wave right after the (perceived) height of the crisis in 2016 — we test the degree to which the European refugee crisis increased Europeans’ anti-immigrant sentiment and Euroscepticism, as well as the influence of Europeans’ anti-immigrant attitudes on their level of Euroscepticism. As suggested by prior research, our results indicate that there is indeed a consistent and solid relationship between more critical attitudes toward immigrants and increased Euroscepticism. Surprisingly, however, we find that the crisis increased neither anti-immigrant sentiments nor critical attitudes toward the EU and did not reinforce the link between rejection of immigrants and rejection of the EU. These findings imply that even under a strong external shock, fundamental political attitudes remain constant.

Media framing of immigrants in Central Europe in the period surrounding the refugee crisis: Security, negativity, and political sources

2022 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Kovář
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Political Sources ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Cultural Frames

Abstract This article investigates how all the main quality and tabloid newspapers and the television newscasts of the main broadcasters in Czechia and Slovakia framed immigrants, what the tone of the employed frames was, and who the main framing actors were before and during the EU refugee crisis (2013–2016). Using quantitative content analysis (N = 7,910), we show that security and cultural frames are most commonly employed while the victimization frame is much less common. Whereas tabloids use the security and cultural frames more often, the victimization, economic and administrative frames are more often invoked in quality media. We also show that the framing of immigrants is predominantly negative, and that the security and cultural are the most negatively valenced frames. Finally, we document a dominance of political actors and the practical invisibility of immigrants and refugees in the media coverage.

“Refugee Voices”

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 645-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath Cabot
Keyword(s):  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Representational Practices ◽  
The World ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
The Eu

This article considers the parallels between ethnographic work and refugee advocacy to show how these knowledge forms seek and yet fail to represent “refugee voices.” The predicaments of refugees in Greece have recently captured the attention of the world owing to Greece’s crucial position in the 2015 “European refugee crisis,” but Greece has long been on the frontlines of refugee reception in the EU. Based on ethnographic research conducted between 2005 and 2013, I analyze the ethnographic logics attached to European advocacy projects surrounding refugees in Greece. I explore their use of tragic tropes, and I argue that ethnographers employ similar tactics to carve out space for marginalized voices. I argue that the representational practices of ethnography and advocacy alike are haunted by various “ghosts”: traces of silenced subjects who index both the limits and possibilities of representation. I argue, ultimately, for a humbling of the ethnographer: for a careful consideration of the power of not knowing in our work, and for recognition of the overlaps between ethnographic knowledge and dominant formations of power.

Nonrecording the “European refugee crisis” in Greece

Focaal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (77) ◽  
pp. 36-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katerina Rozakou
Keyword(s):  
Essential Element ◽  
The State ◽  
State Failure ◽  
Border Control ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
The Government ◽  
Absolute Knowledge

This article explores nonrecording on the borders of Europe during the “European refugee crisis” in 2015. It examines the ambiguous practices of border control and the diverse actors involved. Taking the island of Lesvos as its starting point, the article interrogates how state functionaries manage an “irregular” bureaucracy. Irregular bureaucracy is approached as an essential element of state-craft , rather than an indication of state failure. Nonrecording is thus a crucial site of contestation between the state, nonstate agents, and the government, as well as between Greece and “Europe.” Nevertheless, despite the prevalence of irregularity, the imagery associated with ideal bureaucracy—a system of absolute knowledge, control, and governance of populations—is powerful; and yet, the actors are fully aware that it is a fantasy.

A Gendered Analysis of the European Refugee “Crisis”

2018 ◽  
pp. 704-720
Author(s):  
Jane Freedman
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Migration Strategies ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
Experiences Of Women ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the experiences of women arriving in Europe in the context of the current refugee ‘crisis.’ Based on empirical research in various sites in the European Union (including Greece, Serbia, France, and Germany), the chapter explores the various sources and types of insecurity faced by women, and also the ways in which the label of ‘vulnerability’ can be used strategically to advance migration strategies. The chapter explores ways in which national and EU level policies have impacted women’s experiences of migration, and the ways in which the crisis labeling and securitization of migration to the EU have had gendered impacts on refugees themselves.

Politicization of the refugee crisis?: a content analysis of parliamentary debates in Italy, the UK, and the EU

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella Gianfreda
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Humanitarian Emergency ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Eu

This paper draws on the literature on party competition and issue ownership to assess whether political membership on the right-left dimension explains party stances on migration. While some scholars argue that on this issue a clear distinction between left and right exists, some more recent quantitative and fine-grained analyses show a more nuanced picture. According to them, a clear difference in narratives exists only when the salience of the issue is high, under pressure of the electoral success of a far-right party or about specific policy issues. This paper further investigates this aspect in the context of the 2015 refugee crisis. It looks at the positions held by the main centre-left, centre-right, Radical Right, and Populist Parties in the Italian, British, and European Parliaments. The content analysis shows that centre-left parties frame the refugee crisis mainly as a humanitarian emergency and held pro-European Union (EU) positions, while centre-right parties differ substantially between Italy and the United Kingdom. Both radical right and Populist Parties exploit the political-opportunity offered by the refugee crisis to foster their anti-establishment claims. Moreover, Radical Right Populist Parties stress the need to secure external borders and restore national sovereignty, against further integration. At the EU level, left- and right-wing groups (Socialist and Democrats Party, European Conservatives and Reformists Party, and European People’s Party) are cohesive, while the populist group (European Freedom and Direct Democracy Party) is not. This paper adds on the academic debate on the refugee crisis, showing how the immigration issue can impact on domestic and European party politics, challenging party identities and alliances.

Wspólnotowy wymiar polityki imigracyjnej Unii Europejskiej w obliczu wyzwań związanych ze zwiększonym napływem imigrantów w 2015 r.

2017 ◽  
pp. 82-107
Author(s):  
Michał Skorzycki
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Immigration ◽  
New System ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Crisis Situations

The article comprises the overview of the essential legal, administrative and financial means that the EU has at its disposal in case of rapid influx of immigrants, as well as a selection of major obstacles to the use of these tools, based on observation of the activities of the EU and its member states taken up to deal with the aforementioned situation which took place in 2015. Using the abovementioned observation and an analysis of relevant documents, it is argued that the refugee crisis of 2015 has revealed the necessity of a profound institutionalisation of the European immigration policy as the most effective way to overcome difficulties in response to such situations. The analysis leads also to the conclusion that the EU is caught in a dilemma of either suspending the Dublin system in crisis situations or creating a new system of intensive support for border member states.

scholarly journals On Frogs, Monkeys, and Execution Memes: Exploring the Humor-Hate Nexus at the Intersection of Neo-Nazi and Alt-Right Movements in Sweden

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-165
Author(s):  
Tina Askanius
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Visual Content ◽  
Visual Aesthetics ◽  
Resistance Movement ◽  
Media Practices

This article is based on a case study of the online media practices of the militant neo-Nazi organization the Nordic Resistance Movement, currently the biggest and most active extreme-right actor in Scandinavia. I trace a recent turn to humor, irony, and ambiguity in their online communication and the increasing adaptation of stylistic strategies and visual aesthetics of the Alt-Right inspired by online communities such as 4chan, 8chan, Reddit, and Imgur. Drawing on a visual content analysis of memes ( N = 634) created and circulated by the organization, the analysis explores the place of humor, irony, and ambiguity across these cultural expressions of neo-Nazism and how ideas, symbols, and layers of meaning travel back and forth between neo-Nazi and Alt-right groups within Sweden today.

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