Mack Alexander
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Fortified Societies. The Mobilisation of Shared Anxieties Alexander Mack Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of International Politics Aberystwyth University 2018 i Declaration Word Count of thesis: 76, 632 (excluding footnotes, Appendix and Bibliography) This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed: (Alexander Mack) Date: 06/03/2019 STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by in text references and footnotes. A bibliography is appended. Signed (Alexander Mack) Date: 06/03/2019 STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed (Alexander Mack) Date: 06/03/2019 ii Abstract My thesis argues that shared anxieties embedded in representations of transnational migration fortified societal orientations in Britain and Australia. The language of political leaders in liberal democratic societies frequently interpret the transnational movement of people in conflicting ways. On the one hand, there are appeals to a more open society with more diverse sets of identifications and the loosening of societal regulations. On the other hand, there are appeals to a more closed society, with more narrow sets of identifications and the tightening of societal regulations. I build a sociological model for shared anxieties that synthesises features of process and risk sociology, developed by Norbert Elias and Ulrich Beck respectively. This synthesis offered a conceptual vocabulary to investigate the migration representations embedded within the speeches, interviews and press conferences of British and Australian Prime Ministers from 2001 to 2017. I reconstructed the societal processes that have propagated the relations expressed in the Brexit vote and the distortion of Australian diplomacy. Broader societal fears of various established groupings infused images of transnational outsiders. These stigmatising representations have raised the barriers to societal inclusion and widened forms of societal exclusion. British and Australian leaders circulated and cultivated more reductive modes of thinking and orientating. Keywords: shared anxieties, orientation, fortification, leaders, migration iii Table of Contents Preface & Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Contribution & Literature 4 Process Risk Synthesis & Sociological Model For Shared Anxieties 4 Migration & Societal Fortification 9 Reductive Conceptualisations in Literature 10 Method: Language, Leaders & Societal Power Relations 16 Thesis Outline 22 Chapter 1. Shared Anxieties & Process Sociology 23 The Models of Process 24 Reductive Knowledge Approach 24 Process Sociology Approach 29 A Process Vocabulary For Shared Anxieties 34 Societal & Self-Conscience Formation 35 Power Struggles and Webs of Interdependence 41 Development of Fear-arousing Constellations 45 Political Leaders & Language Representations 48 Political Leaders & Process 48 Conclusion 51 Chapter 2. Shared Anxieties & Risk Sociology 53 The Models of Risk 55 Understanding Risk & Reductive Knowledge Processes 56 Global Interdependence Risk Approach 60 iv The Risk Vocabulary for Shared Anxieties 64 Cosmopolitanisation Processes & Interdependency Crises 65 Power Relations & Symbolic Risk Orientations 67 Risk Orientations & Directions of Societal Change 70 Political Leaders & People Risk Orientations 71 Political Leaders & Risk 72 Conclusion 75 Chapter 3. An Investigation into the Major Public Migration Speeches by Tony Blair (2001-2007) and Gordon Brown (2007-2010) 77 Mobilisation of Shared Anxieties by Blair & Brown 79 Decolonialisation & Europeanisation Processes 79 Commodification & Established Outsider Relations 81 Tensions over Normative Codes in the Language of Blair and Brown 85 Control over Borders & Societal Fortification 90 People Risks & Societal Concerns 93 Dissemination of Fortified Orientations by Blair & Brown 96 Distinctions between Skilled and Unskilled Movement 97 Criminalisation of Movement by Blair and Brown 99 Numbers, Points and IDs 101 Fear Constellations & Stigmatisation of Migrant Outsiders 106 Island Fortifications in Britain? 113 Conclusion 120 v Chapter 4. An Investigation into the Major Public Migration Speeches by David Cameron (2010-2016) and Theresa May (2016- 2017) 121 Shared Anxieties & Fortified Thinking by Cameron & May 123 Interdependency Pressures & Societal Conscience Formation 124 Increased Commodification of Relations 126 Normative Code Tensions Under Cameron and May 130 Fortified Modes of Thinking & Border Protection 133 People Risks & Societal Vulnerabilities 136 Expansion of Fortified Orientations by Cameron & May 140 Harmless and Harmful Economic Movement 140 Criminalisation Process Invoked by Cameron and May 143 Masculine Vulnerabilities Propagated by Cameron 146 Net Migration Target & Migrant Outsider Objectification 149 Continuation of Fear Constellations 152 Nationalised Laws: The Rejection of Europe 162 Conclusion 165 Chapter 5. An Investigation into the Major Public Migration Speeches by John Howard (2001-2007) and Kevin Rudd (2007-2010) 167 Mobilisation of Shared Anxieties by Howard & Rudd 172 Australian Societal Conscience Formation 172 Commodification & Established Outsider Relations 175 Tensions over Normative Codes in the Language of Howard and Rudd 180 ‘Lawless’ Borders and Border Protection 186 Transnational People Risks in the Language of Howard & Rudd 188 vi Fortified Orientations Expressed by Howard & Rudd 191 Safe Skilled Migrants & Harmful Refugees 191 Criminalisation Processes: The 3 D’s of Defend, Deter, Detain 197 Images of Masculine Toughness by Howard & Rudd 200 Alarming Numbers of Boat Arrivals 202 Intangible Fear Constellations in Howard & Rudd’s Language 205 Detention Centres & the Regionalisation of Fears 210 Conclusion 213 Chapter 6. An Investigation into the Major Public Migration Speeches by Julia Gillard (2010-2012), Tony Abbott (2014-2015) and Malcolm Turnbull (2016-2017) 215 Continued Mobilisation of Shared Anxieties in Australia 218 Ongoing Multiculturalisation Processes 219 Commodification of Transnational People Movements 221 Normative Code Tensions of Gillard, Abbott and Turnbull 227 Border Worship in Fortified Australia 230 Globalised People Risks 233 Expansion of Fortified Orientations by Australian Leaders 237 Acceptable Skilled Movement & Unacceptable Boat Movement 238 Ongoing Criminalisation of Boat People 240 Vilification & the Mythologisation of People Smugglers 243 Objectification: Boat Arrivals & Deaths 246 Enduring Fear Constellations of Boat Outsiders 251 Continuation of Mandatory Detention Practices 256 Militarisation: Distortion of Regionalised & Globalised Relations 259 Conclusion 262 vii Conclusion 264 Thesis Summary 265 Contribution 266 Further Studies 269 Appendix 273 Bibliography 340 viii Preface & Acknowledgements My thesis is the culmination of approximately 3 years of focused research from June 2015 to submission in September 2018. The project explores a very different topic from the proposal that helped secure my admission to the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University, and 3 year Doctoral Career Development Scholarship (DCDS) funding from September 2014. This current project has benefited from a generalised stream of funding that was not tied to a specific research project crafted by another researcher, which helped me to chart and craft, my own course as a relatively autonomous scholar. I fear that this type of sponsorship is becoming increasingly uncommon due to changes in the socio-structural relations in Higher Education. The consequences of this shift will be felt over the next years. Societal scientific PhD’s require time, thinking space, confidence and reciprocal dialogue with fellow scholars. When the endeavour of scholarship is reduced to the politics of academic hierarchies, the depth of publically available research suffers. The task of completing the PhD has been greatly assisted by a number of people. To Jordan Shapiro and Charlotte Hammer for the support, debates, and dialogues across a range of cuisines, especially at the end of my 1 st year. To discussions with Andrew Linklater from January 2015 onwards. He has been my primary supervisor, and mentor. I am also grateful to my secondary supervisor Patrick Finney. As well as to Roland Bleiker and Emma Hutchison from the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland where I finalised my thesis. The many conference discussions with Stephen Mennell, Jonathan Fletcher, Barbara Gornicka, John Hobson. Attendees at the 2016 Annual Aber–LSE– Sussex Theory Colloquium Phillip Conway, Pedro Salgado, Mareike Beck, Chris Long and ix organisers/discussants Kamila Stullerova and Louiza Odysseos. As well as cricket breaks with Jan Ruzicka. I have also benefitted from brief discussions and presentations from Patrick Thadeus Jackson. His climbing the mountain analogy helped me to discuss the PhD process to a non-academic audience. By understanding the PhD process as similar to writing a musical symphony, this has reawakened my interest in symphonic structure and form. My PhD has been written to the symphonies and orchestral pieces by Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Louise Farrenc, Mozart, Nielsen, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich,