Mass media and border securitization in Europe: Investigating the metropolitan “Mediapolis” in an era of right-wing populism

《Mass media and border securitization in Europe: Investigating the metropolitan “Mediapolis” in an era of right-wing populism》

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来源: JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS,Vol.41,Issue4,P.535-550

语言: 英文

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作者单位: Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)

摘要: Mass migration of non-Europeans into Schengen Europe and the terrorist attacks perpetrated in the name of Islam in various cities in the European Union have led to a series of mediated public debates on the control of the nation-state border over the past few years. Right-wing populist parties have been prominent in structuring these debates. However, can the urban media, and specifically the commercial ones often accused of sensationalism, be considered as tools that promote the securitization and progressive closure of the state border within Schengen Europe? Based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the representation of non-European migration and terrorism by a metropolitan commercial paper in borderland France, the current article shows that reporters can be instead instrumental in the definition of a “Mediapolis” that is a debordered, global, and moral space of mediated appearances helping to deal with international crises. The promotion of this Mediapolis is presented as the result of multiple spatial and temporal conditions in a series of interconnected cities contained in the French nation-state.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Lille-Nord de France Communauté d’Universités et d’Etablissements: (Grant from Bonus Qualité Recherche Internationale–Call for Projects BQRI 2015).Notes on contributorsChristian LamourChristian Lamour is a researcher in urban, cultural, and border studies at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER). He is also a research associate at the Information and Communication Sciences Department of the University of Lorraine in France, the CREM and a full member of the Observatory of Regional Politics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. His research topics include spatial policies, governance strategies, cultural practices, and bordering processes in European metropolitan regions. One of his areas of interest is media production/reception and its role in the definition of territoriality within metropolises. He also pays attention to the representation of mobility within Schengen Europe in the current context of right-wing populism and border securitization.