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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Who's Driving The Asylum Debate: Newspaper And Government Representations Of Asylum Seekers, Natascha Klocker, Kevin M. Dunn
Who's Driving The Asylum Debate: Newspaper And Government Representations Of Asylum Seekers, Natascha Klocker, Kevin M. Dunn
Natascha Klocker
The welfare and future of asylum seekers in Australia have been very contentious contemporary issues. Findings based on content analysis of media releases in 2001 and 2002 reveal the unrelentingly negative way in which the federal government portrayed asylum seekers. While the government's negative tenor was constant during the study period, the specific terms of reference altered, from 'threat' through 'other', to 'illegality' and to 'burden'. The negative construction of asylum seekers was clearly mutable. Analysis of newspaper reporting during the same period indicates that the media largely adopted the negativity and specific references of the government. The media dependence …
Community Antagonism Towards Asylum Seekers In Port Augusta, South Australia, Natascha Klocker
Community Antagonism Towards Asylum Seekers In Port Augusta, South Australia, Natascha Klocker
Natascha Klocker
An overtly hostile response to asylum seekers was observed in questionnaire responses provided by residents of Port Augusta, South Australia in April 2002. A social construction approach to identity and representation was used to interrogate this antagonism within its social, cultural, political and geographical contexts. Asylum seekers were constructed as 'burdensome', 'threatening' and 'illegal', and opposition to them was set within the discursive framework of a 'Self/Other' binary. Enmity towards asylum seekers was articulated concurrently with overwhelming support for the Federal Government's exclusive and deterrence-oriented asylum policies. However, vehement opposition was expressed regarding the government's decision to construct Baxter Immigration …