Welcome to the new jungle: A discourse analysis of the securitization of migration in the Calais crisis in British media

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War there has been a change in what is considered a security issue and a focus on 'softer security' issues, such as migration. As argued by researchers, the media has been a site for anti-illegal migration discourse which has been consistent with an increased politicization of migration starting from the 1970's. This paper examines British media discourse surrounding the Calais crisis, as it has been commonly referred to, and analyses how migration is discursively connected to security. The theoretical framework of securitization theory developed by The Copenhagen School will be employed and a discourse analysis of the chosen articles will be carried out. The principal goal is to see how the media portrays the situation in Calais and whether it reproduces the current political narrative, which can be considered to be largely driven by a security and anti-immigration discourse. The study, through employing Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional model of analysis, finds that the articles reaffirm existing unequal power relations between migrants and political actors in the EU. This is achieved both at the textual level as well as discursively. The thesis concludes by discussing the role of media and journalism, as well as the applicability of securitization theory. As a final remark, regarding the case of Calais, the study calls for a broader and more nuanced portrayal of migrants and refugees in the media.