‘It’s Not the Refugees, It’s the Location’: Dutch Anti-Asylum Seeker Centre Protests Across Physical and Digital Spaces

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Poster Session: Political Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

This project builds on existing work concerning the democratic and anti-democratic affordances and constraints of social media platforms. Even though social media channels have been celebrated for their emancipatory potential (Castells, 2012; Frost-Arnold, 2016; Sayre et al., 2010), concerns have been raised about their potential to empower white supremacist and racist groups (Banks, 2010), the high levels of online incivility and abuse (Lampe et al., 2014; Rowe, 2015; Santana, 2013), and the spread of echo chambers and ‘fake news’ via online platforms (Barbera et al., 2015; Turcotte, York & Irving, 2015). In light of these concerns, this project will conduct an exploratory ethnographic discourse analysis to better understand the deeper reasons and motivations behind Dutch anti-asylum seeker centre protests, and how protesters use Facebook to reach their political and communicative aims. As such, ethnographic data (in-depth interviews and fieldwork) will be combined with a critical discourse analysis of relevant Facebook groups and pages.

Author

• Iris Beau Segers, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo