09:30 - 11:10
PS1
Room: Meeting Room 2.1
Panel Session 1
Sophia Hunger - There is no bad publicity? - Disentangling different types of parties’ agenda influence on the migration issue
Anna van Vree - Metaphors of immigration: signaling moral agency through dehumanizing rhetoric on both sides of the debate
Valentin Berger - Keeping distance? Examining the Party Competition between Mainstream Parties and the Radical Right on Immigration
Kristina Simonsen - Rhetorical Style as Part of Party Competition: A Cross-Country Comparison of Moralizing Rhetoric in Political Communication on Immigration
Metaphors of immigration: signaling moral agency through dehumanizing rhetoric on both sides of the debate
PS1-03
Presented by: Anna van Vree
Anna van Vree
Aarhus University
Dehumanization in anti-immigration discourse, such as through the use of animalistic or natural disaster metaphors, is a well-researched phenomenon, as well as its effects on attitudes and attitude polarization. However, the use of dehumanizing rhetoric by pro-immigration political actors, how this might differ from anti-immigration rhetoric, and the consequences of these differences, has been largely unresearched. As immigration is a highly polarized topic, it is important to dive into how rhetoric on both sides may have contributed to the moral divide. This paper will focus specifically on signaling moral agency (or the lack thereof) of immigrants, such as the implied capacity of carrying out (im)moral acts or attributing responsibility and blame. It will analyze how perceived agency can be lowered or heightened through dehumanizing metaphors, how the two sides differ in this, and the implications of this on moral judgements of immigrants and immigration. Case studies such as the question of returning female jihadist will be used to analyze how dehumanizing rhetoric can signal (lack of) agency. Text analysis with a focus on critical metaphor analysis will be applied to speeches, debates, and manuscripts by mainstream and extremist, pro-immigration and anti-immigration political actors, across multiple Northern European countries. This research will provide a unique view on the contribution of pro-immigration discourse on the dehumanization of immigrants through the role of moral agency and carries implications on how this might affect moral polarization surrounding the topic of immigration.