Selling displaced people? A multi-method study of the public communication strategies of international refugee organisations

Bibliographic Data

ID3897656
AuthorsDavid Ongenaert (0000-0001-6561-4685, FWO PhD Fellow, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Communication Sciences Ghent University Belgium), Stijn Joye (0000-0002-9509-6505, Associate Professor, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Communication Sciences Ghent University Belgium)
Year2019
Volume43
Issue3
Pages478-508
Publication date2019-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDisasters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-3666 • E-ISSN: 1467-7717
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/disa.12353
PMID31070811
OpenAlexW2803203004
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited64

The world has seen a major increase in forced displacement since 2011. As a growing number of states implement restrictive refugee policies, public communication has become essential for refugee organisations. This study analysed, therefore, three international refugee organisations' discursive strategies towards the recent Syrian crisis, as well as their production and the social context. A critical discourse analysis of international press releases (N=122) and six semi-structured interviews with press and regional officers revealed that the observed actors largely dehumanise displaced people and subordinate them to the 'Western self' and state interests; displaced people hardly ever acquire their own voice. The study found that the medium characteristics of press releases and the importance of media attention result in a depersonalising humanitarian discourse. In addition, there were indications of a post-humanitarian discourse that reproduced the humanitarian sector's 'marketisation'. Finally, the examined organisations use the political realist cross-issue persuasion strategy, displaying displaced people as resettlement objects

Context (archaeology · Displaced person · Humanitarian aid · Persuasion · Political science · Politics · Public discourse · Public relations · Refugee · Sociology · State (computer science · Disaster Management and Resilience · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Law · Social Psychology

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