Citation

Ongenaert D, Joye S. Disasters 2019; 43(3): 478-508.

Affiliation

Associate Professor, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/disa.12353

PMID

31070811

Abstract

The world has seen a major increase in forced displacement since 2011. As a growing number of states implement restrictive refugee policies, public communication has become essential for refugee organisations. This study analysed, therefore, three international refugee organisations' discursive strategies towards the recent Syrian crisis, as well as their production and the social context. A critical discourse analysis of international press releases (N=122) and six semi-structured interviews with press and regional officers revealed that the observed actors largely dehumanise displaced people and subordinate them to the 'Western self' and state interests; displaced people hardly ever acquire their own voice. The study found that the medium characteristics of press releases and the importance of media attention result in a depersonalising humanitarian discourse. In addition, there were indications of a post-humanitarian discourse that reproduced the humanitarian sector's 'marketisation'. Finally, the examined organisations use the political realist cross-issue persuasion strategy, displaying displaced people as resettlement objects.

© 2019 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2019.

Language: en

Keywords

critical discourse analysis; cross-issue persuasion; discursive regimes; displaced people; expert interviews; public communication; refugee organisations