Description
Abstract: Migration in the 21st century has become a central theme of much debate across the globe. Increasingly, these debates have resulted in a political pluralisation between those who see it as a resource and those who see it as a threat to an existing status quo, therein seemingly departing from the 20th century’s humanitarian efforts. Whilst these debates rage, there is increasing research to show a large disconnect between theorisations of migration and the phenomenon in praxis. This disconnect has further been shown to contemporaneously result in widespread negative perceptions about the phenomenon of migration and have seen greater political efforts thereafter to restrict it via hardened and often illegal migration policies, as demonstrated by the current British government’s Rwanda policy. This discussion paper aims to approach this disconnect between theory and praxis via a discursive approach. It will be argued that restrictive migration policies in the 21st century are a consequence of a discursive construction of the phenomenon. The creation of discursive formations such as “illegal” migration, the “securitization” of migration, and the “instrumentalization”/“weaponization” of migration provide evidence to this argument, wherein far-right politicians have increasingly been able to construct a discourse that migration is dangerous and should therefore be restricted. As right-wing politicians continue to gain political power in recent years, paying attention to, and highlighting these discursive constructions will prove significant to furthering the UNs newly implemented drive towards “evidence based” research and decision making.Additionaldescription
https://events.tuni.fi/etmu2024/abstracts-2/| Period | 7 Nov 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | ETMU Conference 2024: Hopeful engagements in turbulent times: knowledge, art and action in migration research |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Tampere, FinlandShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | National |