“It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere
Lately, presumed dominant groups of citizens have expressed negative sentiments toward immigrants while claiming they are marginalized. I call these claims co-opted marginality. Co-opted marginality discourse put an unconventional association between individuals’ social situations and beliefs to the...
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| Format: | Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy |
| Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165344 |
| _version_ | 1824457027334701056 |
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| author | Emes, Claire Stravato |
| author2 | Arul Indrasen Chib |
| author_facet | Arul Indrasen Chib Emes, Claire Stravato |
| author_sort | Emes, Claire Stravato |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Lately, presumed dominant groups of citizens have expressed negative sentiments toward immigrants while claiming they are marginalized. I call these claims co-opted marginality. Co-opted marginality discourse put an unconventional association between individuals’ social situations and beliefs to the fore. Here, in-groups are disadvantaged, and outgroups are perceived as favored. The consideration defies traditional social principles and obscures the act of othering with concerns about ordering and questions how anti-immigrant discourse in the public sphere is traditionally analyzed.
This dissertation explores the emergence of new narratives about immigrants, like co-opted marginality in the online environment, and suggests an alternative theoretical framework based on counterpublic theory to analyze anti-immigrant discourse. The research is based on a concurrent mixed-methods design based on semi-structured interviews (N=36) and a computer-aided content analysis of comments collected in online public forums of Singapore over six months (N= 399,599).
The findings suggest that anti-immigrant discourse on social media is complex; the overt expression of negativity (xenophobia) competes with claims that engage the authorities’ responsibility and typify citizens’ fears of marginalization. The results also raise questions about social media offering opportunities for potentially influential alternative counterpublic discourses connecting via emotions, expressing co-opted marginality.
It is essential to highlight that the study takes place within the specific context of a controlled media environment, possibly limiting its generalizability to different socio-political conditions. However, the thesis advocates investigating co-optation strategies online and evaluating their effects on attitudes and behaviors towards issues (e.g., racism) that are problematized by the dominant normative cognitive structure.
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| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:03:28Z |
| format | Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy |
| id | ntu-10356/165344 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:03:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1653442023-04-04T02:58:00Z “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere Emes, Claire Stravato Arul Indrasen Chib Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information ArulChib@ntu.edu.sg Social sciences::Mass media::Alternative media Lately, presumed dominant groups of citizens have expressed negative sentiments toward immigrants while claiming they are marginalized. I call these claims co-opted marginality. Co-opted marginality discourse put an unconventional association between individuals’ social situations and beliefs to the fore. Here, in-groups are disadvantaged, and outgroups are perceived as favored. The consideration defies traditional social principles and obscures the act of othering with concerns about ordering and questions how anti-immigrant discourse in the public sphere is traditionally analyzed. This dissertation explores the emergence of new narratives about immigrants, like co-opted marginality in the online environment, and suggests an alternative theoretical framework based on counterpublic theory to analyze anti-immigrant discourse. The research is based on a concurrent mixed-methods design based on semi-structured interviews (N=36) and a computer-aided content analysis of comments collected in online public forums of Singapore over six months (N= 399,599). The findings suggest that anti-immigrant discourse on social media is complex; the overt expression of negativity (xenophobia) competes with claims that engage the authorities’ responsibility and typify citizens’ fears of marginalization. The results also raise questions about social media offering opportunities for potentially influential alternative counterpublic discourses connecting via emotions, expressing co-opted marginality. It is essential to highlight that the study takes place within the specific context of a controlled media environment, possibly limiting its generalizability to different socio-political conditions. However, the thesis advocates investigating co-optation strategies online and evaluating their effects on attitudes and behaviors towards issues (e.g., racism) that are problematized by the dominant normative cognitive structure. Doctor of Philosophy 2023-03-24T05:07:44Z 2023-03-24T05:07:44Z 2023 Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy Emes, C. S. (2023). “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165344 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165344 10.32657/10356/165344 en This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Mass media::Alternative media Emes, Claire Stravato “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere |
| title | “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere |
| title_full | “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere |
| title_fullStr | “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere |
| title_full_unstemmed | “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere |
| title_short | “It's not just about the migrants.” Anti-immigrant discourse and co-opted marginality in the online public sphere |
| title_sort | it s not just about the migrants anti immigrant discourse and co opted marginality in the online public sphere |
| topic | Social sciences::Mass media::Alternative media |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165344 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emesclairestravato itsnotjustaboutthemigrantsantiimmigrantdiscourseandcooptedmarginalityintheonlinepublicsphere |