Abstract
Migration is a multifaceted issue with a variety of research implications. In the case of Greece, the migration / refugee crisis of 2015 has been the subject of security centered policies since its beginning. Migration practices in Greece in conjunction with official statements (speech acts) from political and generally security actors, such as the police, suggest that migration in Greece has been securitized. The Greek police are a significant security actor that conveys important security messages and exerts significant influence on the public, since their role lies in the maintaining of public order. Yet, their role in the securitization of migration in Greece has been largely unexplored. Market actors are also an important driving force in attitude shaping at the labor market. Thus, the aim of this paper is twofold. First to explore and illustrate the perceptions and attitudes of the Greek police pertaining to migration and its relation to security and second to investigate whether these perceptions do exert influence on Greek market actors in the respective research areas (Crete and Lesvos), thus impeding the migrants’/refugees’ integration in the labor market of Greece. In order to do so, a mixed methodology is used, applying both quantitative (structured interviews with police officers) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs) methods, so as to investigate whether police officers’ stances reinforce market actors’ perceptions on refugees with an emphasis on the economic sector of security as referred to by the Copenhagen School. The research was carried out in the Greek islands of Crete and Lesvos. These diverse geographical areas were chosen due to their different socio-economic conditions as well as due to their different migrant/refugee flows, hence providing fertile ground for optimal research outcomes.
Highlights
IntroductionIn the case of Greece, ever since the migration/refugee crisis started to unfold in 2015, it was placed at the top of the security agenda of the Greek state resulting in respective policies to tackle the issue (Dimari, 2020)
Migration has always been a multifaceted and contesting issue
First to explore and illustrate the perceptions and attitudes of the Greek police pertaining to migration as well as its relation to security and second to investigate whether these perceptions do exert influence on Greek market actors in the respective research areas (Crete and Lesvos), impeding the migrants’/refugees’ integration in the labor market of Greece
Summary
In the case of Greece, ever since the migration/refugee crisis started to unfold in 2015, it was placed at the top of the security agenda of the Greek state resulting in respective policies to tackle the issue (Dimari, 2020). The securitization two-branch theory defines securitization as the process through which a political issue becomes a security threat, either through speech acts (Copenhagen School) or practices (Paris School) (Buzan et al, 1998; Bigo, 2002). As far as Greece is concerned, despite securitization and its application in the Greek case having been largely explored (Karyotis, 2012; Kalantzi, 2017, Dimari, 2020), the interrelation between security actors and other political elite actors has not been thoroughly explored. First to explore and illustrate the perceptions and attitudes of the Greek police pertaining to migration as well as its relation to security and second to investigate whether these perceptions do exert influence on Greek market actors in the respective research areas (Crete and Lesvos), impeding the migrants’/refugees’ integration in the labor market of Greece
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