The distorting effects of the for-or-against binary in the representation of European refugee hosting societies in 2015–6

Abstract

European receiving societies’ reactions to the increased refugee arrivals of 2015–6 were represented through a for-or-against binary, which focused on whether locals were hospitable or hostile to refugees. This article offers a critical examination of the making and effects of this binary, examining its discursive unfolding in the Greek island of Chios. Its findings show that the repeated use of the for-or-against framing by different actors resulted in the acceleration of the polarization that this representational scheme was purporting merely to describe, benefiting anti-refugee actors on the ground, obscuring a more complex understanding of the root causes of the developing ‘crisis’, and closing down the possibility of host societies imagining a future with refugees. This research contributes to a clearer understanding of the way host societies have been represented in recent years and of how radical political actors took advantage of these discursive practices to claim a central political role.