Managing stake and accountability in Prime Ministers' accounts of the “refugee crisis”: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Taking a (critical) discursive psychological approach, the present study explores the identity management of the Finnish and Swedish Prime Ministers (PM) in relation to the “refugee crisis” and their countries' asylum policies. By taking a longitudinal approach and analysing the PMs' accounts of the “refugee crisis” from 1‐year period, we focused on the ways rhetorical devices related to ethos, logos, and pathos were used to manage the issues of stake and accountability, as well as on the ways in which categories were worked up to serve particular functions. Our comparative analysis demonstrated significant similarities in the Finnish and Swedish PMs' talk, especially with regard to the transfer from a discourse of pathos and ethos, describing refugees in terms of individualism and humaneness, to a discourse of logos, emphasizing rationality, justifying sharpened immigration policies, and homogenizing refugees. However, the different historical paths of the two countries' immigration policies and the specific political situation had implications for the PMs' discourse. The Swedish PM could feasibly scapegoat the Sweden Democrats and the political right in opposition, whereas the Finnish PM, with the populist radical right as a government partner, engaged more heavily in distinctions between “real, needing” and “false, undeserving” refugees. We argue for the longitudinal approach in the analysis of political discourse, as such an approach allows to identify the changes and continuities in the discourse, as well as to grasp the dialogical interplay between the discourse and its context.

Visual (de)humanization: construction of Otherness in newspaper photographs of the refugee crisis

“…This research also suggested that the news coverage shifted from European to national issues in late August 2015, when an increasing number of asylum seekers arrived in Finland, and the discourse on restricting their numbers intensified (Pantti 2016;Vij 2016). The same rhetorical shift was found in a longitudinal analysis of Finnish Prime Minister's accounts of the refugee crisis over a 1-year period, which shifted from a discourse of pathos and ethos to a discourse of logos and homogenization, emphasizing rationality to justify tightened immigration policies (Sakki and Pettersson 2018). In order to cover the entire period of the refugee crisis in Finland, this study focuses on the 2-year period from January 2015 until December 2016.…”

‘The nightmare of multiculturalism’: Interpreting and deploying anti-immigration rhetoric in social media

“…Previous studies on anti-immigration political discourses have shown that they use subtle discursive constructions of otherness (Sakki and Pettersson, 2016) – as well as accusations of racism (Durrheim et al, 2018) – to appeal to their supporters. Previous research has also demonstrated the mainstreaming of the rhetoric of these movements among the political elite (Sakki and Pettersson, 2018; Wodak, 2015). By examining the ways in which anti-immigration political rhetoric was normalised and rendered as appealing through framing Immonen’s act as normal political conduct, this study increases understandings of how anti-immigration discourse is circulated in the lay discourse.…”

“…Horsti and Nikunen, 2013). As a result, anti-immigration voices have become more mainstream in the Finnish public discourse (Pyrhönen, 2015; Sakki and Pettersson, 2018) and attitudes towards immigration have become more polarised among the political elite (Lönnqvist et al, 2019). Thus, while anti-immigration voices have become more salient and accepted in public discourse, they are also increasingly challenged.…”

After the refugee crisis: public discourse and policy change in Denmark, Norway and Sweden

“…A content analysis based on the same media data that I apply in a qualitative manner, finds that Danish print media more often mention negative consequences of immigration. Swedish media are more positive, while Norwegian media occupies a position in-between on such a positive-negative continuum (Hovden, Mjelde, & Gripsrud, 2018; see also Greussing & Boomgaarden, 2017;Sakki & Pettersson, 2018). Interestingly, the study also compares Scandinavian broadsheets to broadsheets in France, Germany and the UK, and finds that coverage in all the Scandinavian countries appears to be less problem orientated than in the other countries.…”