Culture of Fear and Its Consequences for Political Discourse
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Master of Arts Thesis Euroculture University of Göttingen (First semester) University of Uppsala (Second semester) July 2018 Making Sense of the Migration-Fear Nexus: Culture of Fear and its Consequences for Political Discourse A Political Critical Discourse Analysis of Hart aber fair in the German Migration Debate (2013-2017) Submitted by: Ines Mergler Supervised by: Supervisor first university: Dr Lars Klein Supervisor second university: Dr Petter Sandgren Place, date Göttingen, 30.07.2018 Signature MA Programme Euroculture Declaration I, Ines Mergler hereby declare that this thesis, entitled “Making Sense of the Migration- Fear Nexus: Culture of Fear and its Consequences for Political Discourse”, submitted as partial requirement for the MA Programme Euroculture, is my own original work and expressed in my own words. Any use made within this text of works of other authors in any form (e.g. ideas, figures, texts, tables, etc.) are properly acknowledged in the text as well as in the bibliography. I declare that the written (printed and bound) and the electronic copy of the submitted MA thesis are identical. I hereby also acknowledge that I was informed about the regulations pertaining to the assessment of the MA thesis Euroculture and about the general completion rules for the Master of Arts Programme Euroculture. Signed Date Abstract: Fear is a challenge for European democracies today that is discussed in the same breath as rising populism and anti-immigrant speech. However, it seems that fear has also become a defining principle for Western (post)modern society in many other areas of life. This observation has been framed by the term culture of fear and described by recognized sociologists like Ulrich Beck, Zygmunt Bauman and Frank Furedi. They argue that changing social conditions like individualisation and globalisation have altered Western society’s preoccupation with security, uncertainty and risk. In consequence, Bauman and Furedi talk about a fear that has become “free-floating” and “liquid”. This research project asks about the implications of such a culture of fear for society and takes a closer look at what has been described as politics of fear. By conducting a critical political discourse analysis of the political talk show hart aber fair, this paper aims at tracing politics of fear in the German discourse over migration during the “refugee crisis” (2015-2017). In a three-tiered approach, the investigation embarks by defining culture of fear and its social premises, followed by a discussion of politics of fear theories drawing upon such concepts as precaution, prevention and securitisation. Emerging from this discussion, both a “traditional” politics with fear and a (post)modern politics of uncertainty are identified. The subsequent analysis of a selected hart aber fair episode from the 5th September 2016 bases on Siegfried Jäger’s approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and examines the argumentation and interaction of the guests in the debate. The findings indicate that in addition to the use of fear as a political means for populist politicians, the narrative of the “fearful society” has on a whole permeated the German political discourse over migration. Hence, culture of fear offers a new perspective for the understanding of political discourse and the current developments in political practice. Keywords: Culture of Fear; Critical Discourse Analysis; Germany; Political Talk Show; Migration; Political Discourse; Politics of Fear; Refugee Crisis; Sociology of Fear; Content: 1. Introduction: Fear as a European Challenge in the Migration Question ................. 6 2. Culture of Fear: Living in a Contingent Society .................................................. 12 2.1 Fear in an Interdisciplinary Perspective ................................................................ 12 2.2 A Sociology of Fear? ............................................................................................ 13 2.3 What Is Fear? ........................................................................................................ 14 2.4 Culture(s) of Fear .................................................................................................. 16 2.5 Main Representatives of Culture of Fear Theories .............................................. 17 2.5.1 Ulrich Beck: The Risk Society............................................................................... 18 2.5.2 Zygmunt Bauman: Liquid Fear ............................................................................ 20 2.5.3 Frank Furedi: Culture of Fear ............................................................................... 23 2.6 How Is a Culture of Fear Constructed? ................................................................ 26 3. Politics of Fear: The Influence of Fear on Political Discourse ............................ 28 3.1 From Culture of Fear to Politics of Fear .............................................................. 28 3.2 What Is Politics of Fear? ...................................................................................... 28 3.3 Fear Entrepreneurs and the Power of Fear ............................................................ 30 3.4 Precaution, Prevention and Securitisation ........................................................... 32 3.5 Politics of Fear and its Discursive Dimension ..................................................... 36 4. A Political Discourse Analysis of Politics of Fear in Hart aber fair ................... 39 4.1 (Critical) Political Discourse Analysis .................................................................. 39 4.2 Method .................................................................................................................. 42 4.3 Discursive Events: The Context of the German “Refugee Crisis” ........................ 46 4.4 Characterisation of the Sector of the Discourse Plane ......................................... 49 4.5 Structural Analysis of the Discourse Strand ......................................................... 50 4.6 Overview and Guests of the Hart aber fair Episode of 05.09.2016 ..................... 51 4.7 Main Arguments in the Discussion ....................................................................... 53 4.8 Fine Analysis ......................................................................................................... 54 4.8.1 Identification of the Threat.................................................................................... 54 4.8.2 Threat Assessment ................................................................................................ 58 4.8.3 Fear Management .................................................................................................. 61 4.8.4 Responses, Negotiations, Doubts .......................................................................... 64 4.9 Interpretation ......................................................................................................... 67 5. Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself .............................................................................. 70 6. Bibliography .......................................................................................................... 75 7. Annex .................................................................................................................... 88 7.1 Hart aber Fair Episodes: Migration, Terrorism and Islam (2013-2017).............. 88 7.2 Hart aber fair Episodes in Comparison between 2013 and 2017 ......................... 89 7.3 Hart aber fair Episodes: Migration (2013-2017) ................................................. 89 7.4 Transcript of the Hart aber fair Episode of 05.09.2016 ....................................... 97 1. Introduction: Fear as a European Challenge in the Migration Question Lately, one could read in every German newspaper about a government in crisis.1 Horst Seehofer, Minister of the Interior and member of the party Christlich-Soziale Union (CSU), announced that he would resign from his position if the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Christlich Demokratische Union (CDU) did not agree to his demands written down in a “Masterplan Migration”.2 The argument between the two sister parties had been smouldering for a while already, as the Bavarian CSU had loudly demanded more restrictive laws for the regulation of migration. In this context, the daily news broadcast “heute journal” gave the voice to Elisabeth Wehling, a researcher in the field of linguistics, to talk about the “brutalisation of political language”3. She argues that, by using framing techniques, political language has considerable influence on the migration discourse and, in consequence, on public opinion.4 This problem was picked up in a satirical video clip produced by “Extra 3” that comments: “Angst macht müde Wähler munter” (fear revives tired voters). In the style of a drug advertisement, fear is presented as the new “drug” from which all parties, from the left to the right, profit as a means of legitimisation.5 Why ponder on a very specific German party dispute, the research of a linguist and a satire clip? They all point to a phenomenon that is being discussed as a political problem of international scope: fear. This notion of fear often surfaces when speaking of populist parties and their frequently racist discourse. It is argued that fear is used as a political means which becomes visible in the language of populist politicians – the frequent verbal attacks by US President Donald Trump