“Islam has no place in the country” Political discourse on refugees Lenka Kissová CZS55 3 October 2017 Content • Preambles – activity Discourses “migration crisis” in the Slovak political discourse • • Preambles ● Go through the preambles of all four V4 countries’ constitutions Look at the preamble of the country you come from (you can use internet, notebook, smartphone, etc.) ● – – What are the main characteristics of the preambles? What features (including values) are the constitutions build upon? Do the preambles differ? If so, what are the differences? – Why does it matter? • Nation-building – dilemma of nation building - what kind of groups can be included so that we will still remain one nation? civil vs. primordial definition of a state (France, Canada vs. Central Europe) jus sanguinis vs. jus soli who can be a member of a particular society? citizenship as a key precondition of social inclusion → important in the understanding of political discourses and attitudes towards “the others” – – – – Importance of discourses Discourse formulates the ways we look at things, we describe them, what meanings we ascribe them and thus how we act. (Levitas 2005) • we (re)produce mental representations and meanings through discourses • it offers us a certain perspective how we look at things • it offers particular ways how we produce knowledge about things • it influences the way we act → (re)production of mental models (and influencing the behaviour = integral part of discourses (political, media) Importance of discourses II Social exclusion/inclusion anchored in discourses (Levitas 2005) → different discourses will frame and tackle inclusion/ exclusion/ solidarity and related problems differently They will differ in:  Who defines the insiders/outsiders How they characterise/define boundaries (what is the crucial feature of the boundary) How is it possible to support inclusion How they represent relation between inclusion/exclusion and inequality    ‘In a political environment the advocates of reform need to employ strategies to overcome the scepticism of others and persuade them of the importance of reform. In other words, they must create a frame that changes the collective understanding of the welfare state, because doing so ‘shapes the path’ necessary to enact reform’ (Cox, 2001: 475 in Béland 2007) Increasing numbers of immigrants ● http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/overview http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/File:Asylum_applicati ons_(non-EU)_in_the_EU-28_Member_States,_2006%E2%80%932016_(thousands)_YB17.png http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/File:Number_of_(non-E U)_asylum_seekers_in_the_EU_and_EFTA_Member_States,_2015_and_2016_(thousands_of_f irst_time_applicants)_YB17.png https://www.minv.sk/?statistiky-20 ● ● ● The Slovak context ● Legislation focusing on immigration (entry, conditions, permits) No integration policy until 2014 More restrictive conditions for naturalisation Institutional settings – primacy of control & regulation ● ● ● → significant asymmetry between control & integration In 2015 and 2016... ● … the Slovak government adopted the Anti-terrorist measures (in fast-track action) … SMER-SD (governing party) leads the election campaign under the banner “We protect Slovakia” … the Slovak government increased budget on police and on technological control of external border … the Slovak Prime Minister openly accused Muslim immigrants of terrorism, raping the Slovak women and changing the character of the country – ● ● ● http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/islam-has-no-place-in-this-country-says-slova kian-prime-minister-weeks-before-it-takes-over-eu-a7052506.html http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35718831 – ● … the Slovak Prime Minister claimed necessity to control all Muslims living in Slovakia ● … the European Commission adopted the decision to relocate 120,000 people Political discourse on “quota”, migrants and values ● Two dichotomies around which solidarity is discursively constructed: – – Economic immigrant vs. political refugee (pre-quota period) Christian vs. non-Christian (Muslim) refugee (post-quota period) → different representations invoked in political argumentation ● Missing the perspective of fundamental human rights (the case of Christian refugees in the only exception) Some conclusions ● Social exclusion/ inclusion anchored in discourses Us & them and positive self- & negative other-representation strategies generates particular meanings ascribed to certain groups and invokes, or simply strengthens, existing primordial boundaries religion as a mobilizing tool one of the layers of the framing of immigrants and refugees is the preservation of Slovak national identity, equated primarily with Christianity (→ Its political representatives refer to Slovakia as a Christian-Catholic nation, thus seeking to affirm Christianity as an essential Slovak value) invoking nationalism through religious claims in Central and Eastern Europe (=response to wider political, economic, and cultural developments) Such claims legitimate restrictive policies, increase of military/police budgets, exclusionary attitudes, exclusion of particular groups from solidarity ● ● ● ● ● Bibliography Béland, Daniel. 2007. “The Social Exclusion Discourse: Ideas and Policy Change.” Policy & Politics 35 (1):123-139. Levitas, Ruth. 2005. “Three Discourses of Social Exclusion.” Pp. 7-28 in The Inclusive Society? Social Exclusion and New Labour. Second Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.