Fake Photos in the European Refugee Crisis

2020 ◽  
pp. 122-137
Author(s):  
Anita Howarth
Keyword(s):  
Radical Right ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Fake News ◽  
European Refugee Crisis

The escalation of fake news and images during times of crisis and uncertainty is not a new phenomenon, but something quantitatively and qualitatively different is happening now. This chapter adopts an aesthetic approach to locate fake images in the gap between a form of representation and the representation itself. Anxiety with fake images deployed by the radical right during the refugee crisis is about a politics of manipulation within that gap, which enables an image to be re-appropriated or altered fundamentally in ways that reorder the range of possible interpretations to fit a pre-determined narrative. While fake images are not their exclusive preserve, the radical right is widely associated with them, and this chapter explores an aesthetic conceptualisation of fake images through an analysis of the La Vlora fake image, which was used to buttress their invasion narrative. The chapter argues that the affective power of re-imaging was derived from a nativist ideology and a storyline that echoed a dystopic, anti-immigration novel that has assumed cult status in extremist circles.

scholarly journals Polarization in the wake of the European refugee crisis – A longitudinal study of the Finnish political elite’s attitudes towards refugees and the environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Erik Lönnqvist ◽  
Ville-Juhani Ilmarinen ◽  
Florencia M. Sortheix
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Attitudes ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Municipal Council ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
Municipal Election ◽  
Almost All ◽  
First Time

We investigated political polarization among the 28284 candidates in the Finnish municipal election who ran for municipal council in 2012, 2017, or both, and had responded to a Voting Advice Application. Our results revealed political polarization in terms of both conversion (longitudinal analysis, n = 6643) and recruitment (cross-sectional comparison of first-time candidates, n = 13054). The populist radical-right Finns Party became even more anti-refugee, and the pro-refugee Green League became even more pro-refugee. The Finns Party, in particular, has constructed the Green League as their enemies, which could explain why the Finns Party moved in an anti-environmental direction, as well as the increased issue-alignment between refugee-attitudes and environmental attitudes. We also observed increased within-party homogeneity in almost all parties. In the discussion, we focus on the nature of the association between refugee and environmental attitudes.

Orthodox Conservatism and the Refugee Crisis in Bulgaria and Moldova

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Lucian N. Leustean
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Fake News ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
One Year ◽  
State Relations

In 2015, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church issued an unusual statement declaring that the arrival of refugees represented a “true invasion” in the region. One year later, during debates on Moldova’s presidential elections, the Orthodox Church endorsed the fake news that 30,000 Syrians were about to arrive in the country. Drawing on interviews in Chişinău and Sofia, the article argues that the European refugee crisis has led to an internationally-linked Orthodox conservatism characterized by five components: defending a mythical past; fostering close relations with state authorities; anti-Westernism; building conservative networks at local, national, and geopolitical levels; and presenting Orthodox churches as alternative governance structures. These components shape religion–state relations in predominantly Orthodox countries in the region and have had a direct impact on the ways in which religious and state bodies have responded to populism and geopolitics.

scholarly journals A populist turn?

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (s1) ◽  
pp. 67-87
Author(s):  
Mattias Ekman ◽  
Michał Krzyżanowski
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
Newspaper Editorials

Abstract This article undertakes a critical discourse analysis of Swedish quality newspaper editorials and their evolving framing of immigration since the 2015 peak of the recent European “refugee crisis”. Positioned within the ongoing discursive shifts in the Swedish public sphere and the growth of discursive uncivility in its mainstream areas, the analysis highlights how xenophobic and racist discourses once propagated by the far and radical right gradually penetrate into the studied broadsheet newspapers. We argue that the examined editorials carry the tendency to normalise once radical perceptions of immigration. This takes place by incorporating various discursive strategies embedded in wider argumentative frames – or topoi – of demographic consequences, Islam and Islamisation, threat, and integration. All of these enable constructing claims against immigration now apparently prevalent in the examined strands of the Swedish “quality” press.

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.

scholarly journals Refugee or Migrant Crisis? Labels, Perceived Agency, and Sentiment Polarity in Online Discussions

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630511878563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ju-Sung Lee ◽  
Adina Nerghes
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Topic Modeling ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Public Sentiment ◽  
Displaced People ◽  
The Media ◽  
European Refugee Crisis

In recent years, increasing attention has been dedicated to the hazardous and volatile situation in the Middle East, a crisis which has pushed many to flee their countries and seek refuge in neighboring countries or in Europe. In describing or discussing these tragic events, labels such as “European migrant crisis” and “European refugee crisis” started being widely used by the media, politicians, and the online world alike. The use of such labels has the potential to dictate the ways in which displaced people are received and perceived. With this study, we investigate label use in social media (specifically YouTube), the emergent patterns of labeling that can cause further disaffection and tension or elicit sympathy, and the sentiments associated with the different labels. Our findings suggest that migration issues are being framed not only through labels characterizing the crisis but also by their describing the individuals themselves. Using topic modeling and sentiment analysis jointly, our study offers valuable insights into the direction of public sentiment and the nature of discussions surrounding this significant societal crisis, as well as the nature of online opinion sharing. We conclude by proposing a four-dimensional model of label interpretation in relation to sentiment—that accounts for perceived agency, economic cost, permanence, and threat, and identifies threat and agency to be most impactful. This perspective reveals important influential aspects of labels and frames that may shape online public opinion and alter attitudes toward those directly affected by the crisis.

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