Discourse of the Securitization of Migration in France: from Republican Integration to Alarmism

Abstract

Modern migration discourse contributes to the securitization of migration in France: it is transferred to the security field, endowed with threat connotations, and thus is becoming the direct cause of the security deficit. The agents of securitization (representatives of the country’s supreme power or right-wing political movements, or writers and essayists who recognize themselves as independent from any political party’s influence and who, however, still share the anti-immigration mood of the right-wing political movement. They use elements of the discourse of fear to achieve their own political goals; they present immigrants as a mortal threat not only to the national identity of the state and the integrity of its society, but also to its public and national security. In the discourse of these agents, there is a clear tendency to create an image of a France “abandoned” by the government and “besieged” by immigrants, a France as a subject to “colonization” by Islam that is incompatible with the secular principle the country that supports republican ideals. Analysis of the migration discourse of securitization agents reveals bold metaphors and emotionally charged expressions that generate a sense of fear in society and give rise to misconceptions about the scale of immigration and the size of the Muslim population in the country.