This research paper aims to identify and comment on the different meanings of the notion ‘integration’ as used in Austrian public discourse. This critical discourse analysis reveals how the term...Show moreThis research paper aims to identify and comment on the different meanings of the notion ‘integration’ as used in Austrian public discourse. This critical discourse analysis reveals how the term has been employed in the months preceding and following the Austrian legislative election of 2017 in order to make statements about migrants in Austria. Statements such as “we can speak of successful integration, when the migrant feels truly Austrian in the heart” by the country’s current prime minister are investigated in order to reveal what types of conceptualizations of integration circulate in the public debate and discourse. The discursively strongest linked meanings and associations to integration are the ones of German language acquisition, becoming a member of society, assimilation and the Islamic community. Other existing meanings include illegality and a burden resting on the receiving society.Show less
