“Europe” in Greece: Lay constructions of Europe in the context of Greek immigration debates

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse discourses about Europe in Greek debates about immigration and citizenship and highlight the complexities of 'Europeanness' as a symbolic resource for argumentation in these debates. Our data consist of lay discourses from two rounds of online public deliberation (2009/2010 and 2015) about a controversial new citizenship law in Greece. Our analysis shows that Europe is an ambivalent category. On the one hand, Europe symbolises progress, but, on the other hand, it is also constructed in terms of decline and 'contamination' by multiculturalism. Further, our analysis shows that the category of Europe can be mobilised in contradictory ways, in order to support arguments for and against citizenship rights for migrants. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ways in which constructions of Europe are implicated in processes of othering and inclusion in the context of current immigration debates.

Constructions of Europe in the run-up to the EU referendum in the UK

“…The world of nations, which is taken as a given in everyday talk, is structured around specific power relations which marginalise the Rest against the hegemony of the West. Banal nationalism may thus be entangled with banal Occidentalism (Andreouli, Figgou, Kadianaki, Sapountzis and Xenitidou 2017).…”

The European Union and the refugee “crisis”: Inclusion, challenges, and responses

“…In other settings, a narrower understanding of who “we” are seems to be at play in negotiating inclusion and rights. Andreouli and colleagues (Andreouli, Figgou, Kadianaki, Sapountzis, & Xenitidou, ) show how transnational relations and connections are variously constructed in negotiating issues of citizenship and belonging. The authors examine issues around citizenship and belonging in the context of Greece, where people have had to directly engage with migrants and refugees more so than in other EU nations, partly because of EU's own policies.…”

“Sad day for the UK”: The linking of debates about settling refugee children in the UK with Brexit on an anti‐immigrant news website

“…Regarding categorisation, different categories are shown to relate to whether or not migrants are deemed to be entitled or not to enter the country (Andreouli & Howarth, 2013;Andreouli et al, 2017;Sapountzis et al, 2006) and refugees can be repositioned as economic migrants (Goodman & Speer, 2007;Lynn & Lea, 2003). Each will now be addressed.…”

“…Kadianaki, Andreouli, and Carretero (2018) show how historical representations of the nation (in their case Greece) are used to present immigrants as lacking appropriate citizenship to belong in the nation. However, Andreouli, Figgou, Kadianaki, Sapountzis, and Xenitidou (2017) demonstrate that when debating European migration, the category "Europe" itself can mean different things, both progress and decline, where decline is deemed to be caused by multiculturalism, which is facilitated by migration, therefore criticising the free movement principle. This process is challenged by immigrants themselves, through attempts to ridicule essentialised citizenship criteria .…”

“…In the British context, citizenship officers (Andreouli & Dashtipour, 2013) and policy documents on "earned citizenship" (Andreouli & Howarth, 2013) both distinguish "good", "deserving" and "elite" migrants from "bad", "underserving" and "non-elite" migrants, with only the former being deemed suitable for inclusion in the country. However, Andreouli, Figgou, Kadianaki, Sapountzis, and Xenitidou (2017) demonstrate that when debating European migration, the category "Europe" itself can mean different things, both progress and decline, where decline is deemed to be caused by multiculturalism, which is facilitated by migration, therefore criticising the free movement principle.…”