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`A Phantom Menace and the New Apartheid': The Social Construction of Asylum-Seekers in the United Kingdom

Susan Lea

University of Plymouth

A succession of well-publicized incidents in Britain, and elsewhere, has highlighted the dilemma of refugees and seekers of asylum. A number of desperate human tragedies allied to some very dubious institutional practices and decisions have been a cause for concern. Drawing upon that vast corpus of information we call `common knowledge', together with other more exclusive sources of knowledge, British national newspapers and their readers, among others, are involved in the social construction of asylum-seekers. Ideas of citizenship, identity and Nation-hood are employed within a variety of discursive and rhetorical strategies that form part of an `elite' discourse, one that contributes to a `new Apartheid'. This article presents a discursive and rhetorical analysis of letters written to British national newspapers by members of the public. Asylum-seekers find themselves [re]positioned and contrasted with a variety of other social groups in such a way as to justify disregarding some of the central tenets of British democracy. Dissenting voices and a `counter' discourse are evident although very much a minority. It is argued that applied discursive work is necessary to bolster resistance and deconstruct the `new Apartheid'.

Key Words: asylum-seekers • discourse • new Apartheid • refugees • resistance • rhetoric

Discourse & Society, Vol. 14, No. 4, 425-452 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0957926503014004002


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