Hooge Venterink, Loes
(2018)
Orientalist Discourses in Dutch Politics: The Refugee Crisis.
Master thesis, Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation.
Abstract
In June 2017, the United Nations released a report stating that more people are fleeing their homes than ever before in recorded history. The number of people displaced by conflict is estimated to exceed 65 million and at the end of 2016 the global refugee population hit its highest level ever recorded at 22.5 million (UNHCR, 2017). Despite the fact that only a small number of refugees reach Europe, much attention has focused on Europe’s struggle to absorb refugees. After Europe experienced a series of terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016 the so-called refugee crisis has, furthermore, increasingly been linked to this crisis of terrorism.
In this thesis, I aim to find out what explains European reluctance to accept refugees. Based on a critical discourse analysis of Dutch parliamentary debates responding to three terrorist attacks that took place in Europe, I argue that, amongst other already acknowledged factors, the continued presence and influence of Orientalism in European politics is significant yet undertheorized in explaining European reluctance to accept refugees. Through a focus on the supposedly violent nature of Islam, Islam’s connection to both refugees and terrorism, and the creation of an ideological conflict between ‘us’ and ‘them’, the presence of Orientalism has contributed to the securitization of the ‘refugee crisis’. This securitization has helped to legitimize extreme security measures against both terrorism and migration, which have become increasingly intertwined. I, therefore, argue that a shift away from the political discourses used to discuss refugees is necessary.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Wilson, E.K. | E.K.Wilson@rug.nl | | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation |
| Academic year: |
2017- 2018 |
| Date of delivery: |
11 May 2018 |
| Last modified: |
11 May 2018 12:03 |
| URI: |
https://ggw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/382 |
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