Presidential speeches and the online politics of belonging : Affective-discursive positions toward refugees in Finland and Estonia
Ojala, M., Kaasik-Krogerus, S., & Pantti, M. (2019). Presidential speeches and the online politics of belonging : Affective-discursive positions toward refugees in Finland and Estonia. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 22 (2), 164-179. doi:10.1177/1367549418823059
Published in
European Journal of Cultural StudiesDate
2019Discipline
Nykykulttuurin tutkimusCopyright
© The Authors 2019
The so-called ‘refugee crisis’ has added urgency to the social dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in European societies. This study explores how emotions figure in this politics of belonging by studying their discursive mobilization in Finnish and Estonian public debates on asylum seekers. Focusing on presidential speeches addressing the refugee issue, on the one hand, and their reception by online commenters on popular tabloid news sites, on the other, the comparative analysis highlights both similarities and differences in how emotional expressions are employed in these two countries with very different experiences of taking refugees. Despite employing common discursive elements in their speeches, the diverging national contexts prompted the two presidents to emphasize contrasting emotional positions: the insecure Finn, threatened by abusive asylum seekers, and the compassionate Estonian, capable of identifying with the plight of refugees. In contrast, the reactions to speeches by Finnish and Estonian citizens on tabloid news sites demonstrated highly converging emotional positions. Online comments in both countries revealed deep anger and distrust of political elites among tabloid news audiences, articulating a complex relationship with the nation as a divided and exclusive political community.
...


Publisher
Sage Publications Ltd.ISSN Search the Publication Forum
1367-5494Keywords
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Évolution du discours anti-immigration des populistes de droite radicale : le cas du Parti des Finlandais
Cazes, Marie (OpenEdition, 2021)This article aims to analyse anti-immigration discourse in the electoral and political programmes of the Finns Party from the 1990’s until the parliamentary elections of 2019. A particular attention will be payed to the ... -
Refugees and a local community : a study of aborted establishment of an asylum seeker center in Jämsä in 2010
Jokinen-Jokela, Terhi (2010)The focus of this thesis are the frames created and used throughout the examined time period from January 2010 to September 2010 and the news narrative created by the local newspaper, Jämsän Seutu, about a proposed ... -
Social Integration Through Sport in a Cross-Cultural Setting : Stories from Refugees Living in Central Finland
Moyo, Langa (2018)Finland has rapidly become a desirable and popular destination for migrants and refugees seeking a better life fleeing from factors of societal discrimination, inequalities and oppressive regimes. In the advent of the ... -
Being an academic and engaging in social change
Mathies, Charles (ETMU ry, 2021) -
Suuntana luottamus, tieto ja osallistuminen
Mäkinen, Katja; Salo, Miika (Valtiotieteellinen yhdistys, 2021)