Austerity Talk and Crisis Narratives: Memory Politics, Xenophobia, and Citizenship in the European Union

Helga K. Hallgrimsdottir; Ari Finnsson; Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2020.00014

Frontiers in Sociology (Mar 2020)

Austerity Talk and Crisis Narratives: Memory Politics, Xenophobia, and Citizenship in the European Union

Helga K. Hallgrimsdottir,
Ari Finnsson,
Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly

Affiliations

Helga K. Hallgrimsdottir: School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Ari Finnsson: Social and Political Thought, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly: School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2020.00014
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 5

Abstract

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The focus in this paper is on understanding the complex intersections between crises and memory politics in shaping conversations about citizenship through an examination of the two defining crises of our time: the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008 and the migrant crisis in the European Union (starting in 2011 and continuing). The paper looks at these crises as narrative devices that intersect with memory politics in ways that heighten and intensify xenophobic and nationalist anxieties. The paper's discussion is primarily theoretical, complemented with evidence drawn from public statements and policy platforms of three key right-wing Eurosceptic parties in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany (the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), the Rassemblement National (RN), and the Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD).

Published in Frontiers in Sociology

ISSN: 2297-7775 (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Social Sciences: Sociology (General)
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology

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