Beyond symbolic policy making: The Copenhagen School, migration, and the marked-unmarked analogue

Authors

  • Sabine Hirschauer New Mexico State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59670/ml.v18i4.1136

Keywords:

securitization, containment, Germany, markedness, symbolic policy

Abstract

This article problematizes the securitization of migration through symbolic policy discourse. Policy as discourse is not innocent. It creates not only instrumental outcomes, but can also signal deeply ideological and profound, symbolic meanings.  This study discusses Germany’s controversial ANKER Center policy as a form of such symbolic signaling. Distinguishing between negative and positive securitization, this article then brings into focus the non-linear, non-fixed, political, and social construction of these two forms of securitization in the context of migration. Framed in part by the author’s ongoing field work with migrant organizations and volunteer groups in southern Germany, this article draws specific attention to a discursive marked-unmarked asymmetry. It then applies the sociologists’ method of ‘marking everything’ as a strategy to ‘write against’ securitization’s negative logic—toward a positive, more inclusive migration agenda.    

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Author Biography

Sabine Hirschauer, New Mexico State University

Assistant Professor Department of Government

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Published

2021-07-20

How to Cite

Hirschauer, S. (2021). Beyond symbolic policy making: The Copenhagen School, migration, and the marked-unmarked analogue. Migration Letters, 18(4), 367–380. https://doi.org/10.59670/ml.v18i4.1136

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Section

Articles