scholarly journals Expecting Refugees in Latvia: Negative Stereotyping

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadims Murašovs ◽  
Aleksejs Ruža ◽  
Vitālijs Raščevskis ◽  
Valērijs Dombrovskis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Illegal Immigration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Attitude Survey ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Psychological Study ◽  
Prejudicial Attitude ◽  
Negative Stereotyping

Abstract In response to a dramatic increase of illegal immigration in the European Union, in the fall of 2015 Latvia agreed to accept several hundreds of refugees on its soil. Nevertheless, Latvian society remains very sceptic about these plans, and reportedly demonstrates strong negative attitudes towards refugees. According to the survey, by the end of 2015 the factual experience of interaction with refugees did not exceed ten per cent of Latvian population. This suggests that most of the real attitudes are formed by mass media and other socialisation agents. In order to uncover the nature of these feelings, the present study has been designed to make an in-depth social psychological study on attitudes. One thousand Latvian residents evenly representing Latvia’s demography have taken part in this study. A modified Stephan’s Prejudicial Attitude Survey has been used to study prejudice. Negative stereotyping represents one of the emotional components of attitudes towards refugees. The results illustrate the palette of emotions and the level of their expression in Latvian society, and highlight the feelings, which may shape the identity of the in-group.

Falling on Deaf Ears? Exploring the Effects of Newspaper Coverage of the European Parliament on Public Support for it

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-210
Author(s):  
Olga Eisele
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Public Support ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The People ◽  
The Uk

Abstract The European Parliament (EP) is the only directly elected institution at the European Union (EU) level, and its empowerment was long regarded to quasi-automatically lead to greater legitimacy of EU politics. The strength of the EP has grown continuously. However, this has not translated into greater appreciation of a crisis-ridden EU which seems more fundamentally questioned than ever before. Starting from the assumption that mass media serve as the most important source of political information and therefore as a crucial connective interface, we explore newspaper contents about the EP and their effects on public support for it to assess the actual link between the people’s representation at EU level and the people at home. The analysis is conducted for EP elections of 2009 and 2014 in Finland, Germany and the UK. Results suggest that effects of coverage on public support of the EP became stronger and more direct in 2014, which is explained by the increased salience of EU politics in times of crisis. However, expectations of what the EP is or should be may have to be adapted to the reality of a second-order parliament.

scholarly journals The influence of context on the metaphoric framing of the European Union in Ukrainian mass media

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Ukrainian Society ◽  
Interactional Narratology

This paper aims to explore how conceptual metaphors that underlie metaphoric expressions used by Ukrainian newspapers frame the image of the European Union in Ukraine. The study is informed by conceptual metaphor theory [Lakoff & Johnson 1980, 1999], discourse metaphor theory [Musolff 2004; Cameron & Deignan 2006; Semino 2008; Musolff & Zinken 2009] and interactional narratology [Bruner 2002, 2004]. In the focus of attention are metaphoric expressions that refer to the European Union. It is argued that the metaphors under study have a powerful framing potential realized in discourse. In particular, it is maintained that in their discourse use the metaphors suggest specific metaphoric scenarios [Musolff 2006, 2016a, 2017] and in such a way articulate narratives with a certain stance. Accordingly, framing the European Union through metaphoric scenarios depends on the stance that media product creator (Ukrainian print media) takes towards the European Union, imposing it on the readership. Framing through "domesticated" metaphors provides for their better fit with the narratives circulating in the Ukrainian society in January-June 2016.

scholarly journals Challenges of the enlargement policy in the light of European Union transformation: Is the rise of Euroscepticism in Serbia inevitable?

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-106
Author(s):  
Jelena Todorovic-Lazic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
The Public ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Public Opinion Polls ◽  
The Eu

The EU Summit in Thessaloniki in 2003 is often referred to as a milestone in the relations between the Western Balkans and the European Union because the region was given strong promises of a prospective European perspective through the Stabilization and Association Process. However, the initial enthusiasm that followed has melted over the coming years because the expectations of most countries in the region have not been met (with the exception of Croatia that became an EU member in 2013). Even though we get assurances from the Brussels that they will not give up on enlargement, it is obvious that this issue is not on the list of priorities of the EU at the moment. Not only that its decisiveness to encompass with enlargement the Western Balkans is on shaky grounds due to the numerous challenges that the EU is facing at the moment, but such decline in interest leads to a decline in interest in the countries of the mentioned region that are currently in the accession process. This further leads to the rise in Euroscepticism for which the Western Balkans is a breeding ground. The reasons for Euroscepticism existed even before the enlargement has been brushed aside from the Union agenda (those were mostly reasons related to pre-accession strategy for candidate countries/potential candidates and were present even in the case of countries of Eastern and Central Europe, even though there were also reasons specific for each of these countries.). However, it seems they have become stronger with the new developments in the Union. Incertitude of membership affects the rise of negative attitudes towards the Union in the public opinion of these countries which becomes manifest if we look at numerous public opinion polls. The focus of this paper will be the interpretation of the results of the research that the Institute for Political Studies conducted on an annual basis from 2015 to 2018.

Stages of Forming a Common Immigration Policy of the European Union

2017 ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Yevhenia Blazhevska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Illegal Immigration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
Economic Needs ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Different Levels

The article analyzes the stages of the formation of a common immigration policy of the European Union. The article argues that the elimination of the stages is due to the need for answers to the challenges of both economic needs and the circumstances of the environment caused by regional and global threats. On the whole, it can be assumed that an increase in the role of the institutions in the area of immigration policy under the Lisabon Treaty will help to strengthen the protection of the rights of immigrants and deepen European integration. At the same time, it can be stated that certain areas of the Unions immigration policy will continue to be at different levels of harmonization: from the most „communitarization” (asylum policy, the fight against illegal immigration), to a large extent remaining in the competence of national governments (economic immigration). Keywords: EU, immigration, migration, communitarization, pillars, treaties

scholarly journals Assessing EU perception in Kazakhstan's mass media

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bakyt Ospanova ◽  
Houman A. Sadri ◽  
Raushan Yelmurzayeva
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Measurement Point ◽  
The European Union ◽  
News Reports ◽  
The Third ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Eu

This paper explores the mass media perception of the European Union (EU) in Kazakhstan by utilizing the content analysis of the major mass media outlets. The authors examine news reports and periodical articles from four major national Kazakh newspapers using three measurement points. The first measurement point covers the early 1990s when Kazakhstan declared independence and began to establish its foreign relations. The second measurement point covers the periods before and after introduction of the EU Strategy for Central Asia (2006–2008). The third measurement point covers the years (2011–2013) associated with implementation with the EU Strategy and assessing its results. Our main findings suggest that Kazakhstan's mass media positively perceives the role of the EU in the region. Moreover, they tend to portray the EU mainly as an economic powerhouse. Our findings support some suggestions by similar studies of the EU's external perception.

scholarly journals Science and technology in a mediatized and democratized society

2007 ◽  
Vol 06 (01) ◽  
pp. A02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter A. Maeseele
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
European Research ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Western Democracies

We inhabit an age in which economic progress in the European Union is equalized to more European research and better communication of that European research to the public. In highly developed Western democracies this implies an important role for the public as well as the mass media, both actors in a transforming public sphere. Beyond a call for more communication and more scientific literacy, the discourse has shifted to a call for more engagement and more participation on behalf of the citizen. There is a widespread sentiment however that the discipline of science communication is at a crossroads. In this paper it is argued that in a context of life politics and an increasing displacement of politics, one has to account for the trajectories of issue formation and the detours of public-ization to understand the dynamics of techno-scientific issues.

scholarly journals International Students in the Era of Trump and Brexit: Implications, Constructions and Trends

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Bartram
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Students ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Hate Crime ◽  
Verbal Abuse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
The Us ◽  
Global North

Across the Global North, many commentators have begun to note the expansion and spread of nationalist sentiments with some concern. Outside of the US, in the immediate aftermath of the U.K. vote to leave the European Union (EU) in the June 2016 referendum, there was an alarming increase in reported incidents of hate crime targeted at non-U.K. nationals (Burnett, 2017). These varied from physical attacks on individuals to verbal abuse and cyber assaults. Commentators suggested that the vote to leave had somehow—and for some people—legitimized the open display of negative attitudes toward foreigners and cultural difference, casual xenophobia, and indeed racist behavior (Khalili, 2016).

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis of Birth Rate and Life Expectancy in Macedonia, Turkey and the European Union

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trajko Miceski ◽  
Natasha Stojovska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Graphical Displays ◽  
Demographic Aging ◽  
The Eu

The comparative analysis of birth rate and life expectancy will provide information about the position of Macedonia in relation to Turkey and the EU and also about the factors that have the greatest impact on the population’s movement and vitality. This information should help the policy creators in the process of defining and implementing measures for increasing the birth rate and life expectancy of the population, which is aim of every country. In this paper will be put out some theoretical aspects about the economic, social, psychological, technological, cultural and political factors that have impact on the birth rate and life expectancy of the population. Also, the tabular and graphical displays will show the movement of these two demographic features in the period from 1980 to 2011. Changes in birth rate and life expectancy in Macedonia, Turkey and the European Union have been leading to demographic aging of the population in the last three decades. The birth rate in these countries shows a trend of continuous decline, despite the gradual increase in life expectancy of the population. Although the declined birth rate and increased life expectancy of the population have been a common features of these countries in the last decades, the percentage of this changes is different for each country.

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