“This is an EU crisis requiring an EU solution”: Nation and transnational talk in negotiating warrants for further inclusion of refugees

Abstract

AbstractDiscursive social psychological research shows the centrality of treating arrival nations as unitary entities that are incompatible for nonnation others (immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees) in legitimately warranting their exclusion. We extend these findings for the current Special Issue and for broader literature in examining inclusion issues in the European Union (EU) in the ongoing context of the “refugee crisis.” We offer a discursive analysis of transcribed talk in the Dáil Éireaan (Irish Parliament) for the year 2015 when issues of migration and refugees were prominent. Analysis shows that Deputies treat the adequacy of ongoing inclusion efforts as a concern. This was worked up through foregrounding possibilities for Ireland to take up inclusive efforts and managed through avowals of commitment to inclusion juxtaposed to treating the issue and responses to it as EU concerns. Findings show that unique aspects and sovereignty of nations can be downplayed in negotiating warrants for inclusion. Alongside this, in specific contexts and settings transnational collectives, such as the EU, can be treated as stand‐ins for nations and used to negotiate inclusion of nonnation others. These are discussed in relation to implications for inclusion advocacy.