This thesis aims to answer the research questions when does the word immigrant become a salient political issue. Migration and the immigrant have never been a more pressing issue to solve, and with...Show moreThis thesis aims to answer the research questions when does the word immigrant become a salient political issue. Migration and the immigrant have never been a more pressing issue to solve, and with current global trajectories they are likely to become even more central to international politics in the years to come. Academic literature remains adamant on finding the explanatory factor(s) for why and how the immigrant is politicised through political language, and from the perspective of understanding this political polarisation for the sake of preventing the harm to immigrants, this is an important and worthwhile pursuit. But this thesis argues that the Faroe Islands are a deviant case, as it contains all the common quantifiable explanatory metrics, yet immigration is not politicised. This contradicts the common correlative theories and instead connects the politicisation of immigration to the fundamental aspect of being a sovereign state and argues that the duty of discussing the phenomenon of immigration necessitates the words to define the debate, and it is the introduction of these words into the common sphere that sharpens, and therefore politicises, the immigration topic.Show less
In 2020 the monoethnic Perikatan Nasional coalition seized power from the multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition, resulting in a reversal of societal progress towards a more multicultural Malaysia....Show moreIn 2020 the monoethnic Perikatan Nasional coalition seized power from the multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition, resulting in a reversal of societal progress towards a more multicultural Malaysia. This development mimics the rise of populism within Europe, and thus warranted investigation to see if current understandings of European populism could explain this phenomenon in Malaysia. This study utilised discourse analysis to examine the coalition manifestos and member-party political rhetoric of the key Malaysian political coalitions from 2015 to 2020, establishing that Pakatan Harapan is the sole populist coalition consisting of non-populist parties. Pakatan Harapan was formed as a response to the widespread corruption of the previous ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, thus once they had gained power the divisions between its member-parties proved too great for the coalition to survive, resulting in the creation of Perikatan Nasional. This study refutes previous research that claimed populism was not feasible within Southeast Asia, providing evidence that such movements are not only possible but exist within the region.Show less
This study examines immigrant experiences of contact and conflict with the Dutch to understand the impact of social integration on reinforcing or preventing formation of modern gender-attitudes....Show moreThis study examines immigrant experiences of contact and conflict with the Dutch to understand the impact of social integration on reinforcing or preventing formation of modern gender-attitudes. For that purpose, in-depth conversational interviews were conducted with 22 first- and second-generation Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands. It contributes to the literature by revealing the process of formation through individual experiences of immigrants narrated by them. Thereby, rather than correlating their behaviours with assigned categories that often fall short of explaining the variation, we have access to the process first-hand. Since gender-attitudes are central to explain immigrant behaviour, understanding the formation is essential for both literature, and policymakers. The study demonstrates that traditional attitudes can be reformed through close contact with the Dutch whilst intergroup conflict hinders the formation. The recurred themes among the sample have been: i) Rapprochement with the Dutch, and ii) Divergence from Turkish community, as reinforcing egalitarianattitudes; i) Resentment and Segregation, and ii) Peer Pressure and Channeling, as causing maintenance of traditional-attitudes.Show less
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe, political elite articulations often link terrorist attacks to an increase in migration. The chief focus of this study is to explain how migrants...Show moreIn the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe, political elite articulations often link terrorist attacks to an increase in migration. The chief focus of this study is to explain how migrants were perceived in France by political elites and the media in the context of the November 2015 attacks in Paris. Manifestos of the leading candidate parties published prior to the 2017 elections and media articles published in the aftermath of the attacks have been analyzed through the discourse analysis method. This study finds that the migration-terrorism nexus was accorded increased saliency by the far-right party. However, both leading candidates attempted to securitize the issues surrounding migration and presented the migration-terrorism nexus as a threat that merits urgent action. Finally, this study explains how the media conveyed the frames surrounding the migration-terrorism nexus to the public against the background of the existing security discourse. A study of this design has contributed towards a better understanding of the portrayal that informs France’s stance on issues such as terrorism and migration.Show less
The effects of global climate change are causing new patterns of human migration, which arises questions about decision-making in climate migration. This thesis analyses the influence of distance...Show moreThe effects of global climate change are causing new patterns of human migration, which arises questions about decision-making in climate migration. This thesis analyses the influence of distance to the host country in migration decision-making through the perceptions of Marshallese and I-Kiribati. In 32 surveys and 12 in-depth interviews among these Pacific islanders, this study finds that the reason for migration – more climate security – shapes migration motivations significantly. It therefore argues that climate change should be included as a factor in research on migration distances. In addition, it uncovers that that distance is not perceived solely geographical, but that the islanders also discern sociocultural, economic, climatic and political distance. This research therefore suggests that the definition of distance will be expanded to fit it into this multi-dimensional character.Show less
