Ett öppet eller slutet Europa. En diskursanalys av EU
s flykting- och invandringspolitik
EUDiskursFlyktingInvandringSäkerhetsteoriPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapPeace and conflict researchPolemologyFreds- och konfliktforskningLaw and Political Science
This thesis focuses on the perception of immigration and refugees in the commonEuropean refugee and immigration policy. It identifies different discourses andstudies their development and interrelated power structures.Using the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, documents from theEuropean Council, the Commission, the Justice and Home Affairs Council andParliament debates are analysed. The study is defined in the time span of 1999-2006, i.e. from the European Council's first agreement on developing a commonEuropean asylum system, following the period up till today.Four discourses are distinguished, focusing respectively on rights, security,European Union's needs, and cultural identity. I use Sandra Lavenex theory ofrealism and idealism to analyse one of the main points in the thesis: There is afundamental schism between the one rights-based discourse, focusing on universalhuman rights, and the three sharing a particularistic focus on immigration as asecurity concern. Jef Huysmans security theory is applied to the dominatingdiscourses to thoroughly illustrate the various ways the discourses constructimmigration as a security problem.The result of the study shows a development towards a more security focusedand particularistic perception in the common refugee and immigration policy,leading towards more restrictive policies.