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The Construction of Borders: Discursive Representations of Asylum Seekers in Australian Press

Helgesson, Karl LU (2014) SGED10 20141
Department of Human Geography
Abstract
In Australia a succession of politicised and well-publicized incidents has highlighted the ‘dilemma’ of refugees and seekers of asylum. A number of desperate human tragedies and very questionable practices and decisions by the Australian government have caused the upset. However, instead of focusing on the humanitarian aspects of the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, their arrival has been framed as a security issue. This has provided a context where highly restrictive border control measures have been implemented that disregards some of the central tenets of Australian Democracy. This thesis rests on the belief that media play a highly influential role in the constructing of asylum seekers as a security issue and therefore also plays a... (More)
In Australia a succession of politicised and well-publicized incidents has highlighted the ‘dilemma’ of refugees and seekers of asylum. A number of desperate human tragedies and very questionable practices and decisions by the Australian government have caused the upset. However, instead of focusing on the humanitarian aspects of the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, their arrival has been framed as a security issue. This has provided a context where highly restrictive border control measures have been implemented that disregards some of the central tenets of Australian Democracy. This thesis rests on the belief that media play a highly influential role in the constructing of asylum seekers as a security issue and therefore also plays a decisive role in the way border policies are implemented. In order to shed light on this, a discourse analysis of letters to the editor in Australian will be done to examine the exchange of arguments through which such borders policies are justified and challenged. (Less)
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author
Helgesson, Karl LU
supervisor
organization
course
SGED10 20141
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Australia, refugees, asylum, border control, media
language
English
id
4449164
date added to LUP
2014-08-19 10:54:24
date last changed
2014-08-19 10:54:24
@misc{4449164,
  abstract     = {{In Australia a succession of politicised and well-publicized incidents has highlighted the ‘dilemma’ of refugees and seekers of asylum. A number of desperate human tragedies and very questionable practices and decisions by the Australian government have caused the upset. However, instead of focusing on the humanitarian aspects of the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, their arrival has been framed as a security issue. This has provided a context where highly restrictive border control measures have been implemented that disregards some of the central tenets of Australian Democracy. This thesis rests on the belief that media play a highly influential role in the constructing of asylum seekers as a security issue and therefore also plays a decisive role in the way border policies are implemented. In order to shed light on this, a discourse analysis of letters to the editor in Australian will be done to examine the exchange of arguments through which such borders policies are justified and challenged.}},
  author       = {{Helgesson, Karl}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Construction of Borders: Discursive Representations of Asylum Seekers in Australian Press}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}