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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 13:3 (2014) ► pp.403–433

Resisting marginalisation

changing representations of migrants and refugees in UK text and talk since the 1960s

| Lancaster University |
In this article, I chart ways in which changing representations of migrants and refugees in the UK have contributed to their marginalisation. The article shows the findings from a study of the role immigrant organisations played in discussions of immigration control since the 1960s. The findings suggest that language about migrants and refugees has become both more marginalising and more difficult to challenge due to its increased complexity, with the increasing division of migrants into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ subgroups; an increased emphasis on ‘the nation’; and the increasing dissociation of discussions of immigration control from issues of race and racism, accompanied by ‘antiracist’ argumentation strategies and a denial of racism. The findings also suggest that speakers wishing to challenge such language, although able to present oppositional voices, may have difficulty getting those voices heard unless they in turn adopt aspects of the marginalising text and talk they wish to oppose.
Keywords: migrants, refugees, representation, opposition, resistance, language, race, racism, antiracism, immigrant organisations
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The importance of language about migrants and refugees
    • 2.1National identity and ‘the nation’
    • 2.2Race, racism and antiracism
    • 2.3Migrants and refugees
    • 2.4Marginalising language
  • 3.Text and talk on immigration control in the UK
    • 3.1Divisions into positively and negatively construed sub-groups
    • 3.2Increased emphasis on national identity
    • 3.3Antiracism and the denial of racism: Argumentation strategies
    • 3.4Racelessness
    • 3.5‘Humanity’
    • 3.6Successful opposition: Constraints
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 22 December 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.13.3.02lam
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