The Construction of the 'Refugee Crisis' Securitization and Moral Panics: A qualitative study on the constructed threats and underlying ideologies

Hitz, Sarah Bekaan Allermann

4. term

Culture, Communication and Globalization, Master

2016

2016-05-25

85

In 2015, the arrival of refugees to Denmark was frequently framed as a ‘crisis’, which contributed to securitizing the issue and building support for extraordinary measures. This study examines how refugees were constructed as a threat in the public debate leading up to the adoption of the ‘Asylum Package’. Based on a qualitative content analysis of 28 editorials and feature articles published between 1 September and 1 November 2015, and informed by theories of framing, securitization, and moral panic, the analysis centers on two themes: ‘Islam and the European allies’ and ‘the welfare threat’. The findings indicate that refugees were often positioned within a ‘Muslim category’ and woven into a narrative of civilizational clash and the Islamization of Europe. Welfare was simultaneously used to mobilize a national ‘us’ and portray refugees as an economic burden, with particular appeal to working-class segments concerned about the consequences of neoliberal globalization. These processes are described as a moral panic shaped by underlying neo-nationalism and neoliberalism, which supported arguments for more restrictive foreign and asylum policies—culminating, concretely, in the formation of the Asylum Package.

I 2015 blev flygtninges ankomst til Danmark ofte beskrevet som en ‘krise’, hvilket bidrog til at sikkerhedsgøre området og skabe opbakning til ekstraordinære tiltag. Dette projekt undersøger, hvordan flygtninge blev konstrueret som trussel i den offentlige debat op til vedtagelsen af ‘Asylpakken’. Med udgangspunkt i en kvalitativ indholdsanalyse af 28 ledere og kronikker publiceret 1. september–1. november 2015 og informeret af bl.a. framing-, securitization- og moral panik-teori, analyseres to gennemgående temaer: ‘Islam og de europæiske allierede’ og ‘velfærdstruslen’. Undersøgelsen viser, at flygtninge ofte blev placeret i en ‘muslimsk kategori’ og indskrevet i et narrativ om civilisationskonflikt og Europas islamisering. Samtidig blev velfærden brugt til at mobilisere et nationalt ‘os’ og fremstille flygtninge som økonomisk byrde, med særlig appel til arbejdersegmenter præget af bekymringer over neoliberal globalisering. Disse processer beskrives som en moralsk panik, præget af underliggende neonationalisme og neoliberalisme, der understøttede argumenter for strammere udenrigs- og asylpolitik—herunder dannelsen af Asylpakken som en konkret politisk konsekvens.

[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]

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Hitz, Sarah Bekaan Allermann:

• The Construction of the 'Refugee Crisis' (2016)