This book presents the main findings of an empirical exploration of media discourses on social representations of “otherness” in seven European countries. It focuses on the analysis of press discourses produced over a fifteen-year period (2000–2015) on three contemporary figures of otherness that challenge the identity of European societies, question the attitudes towards diversity, and pose significant challenges for policy-makers: immigration, Islam, and LGBT. The book provides a comprehensive and articulate map of how national media addresses such themes from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives, revealing patterns of continuity and discontinuity across time and space. Lastly, it discusses these patterns in the light of their cultural meanings and their influence on social and political collective behaviours.
Author(s): Terri Mannarini, Giuseppe A. Veltri, Sergio Salvatore
Series: Culture In Policy Making: The Symbolic Universes Of Social Action
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 159
Tags: Media Research
Preface......Page 6
References......Page 11
Contents......Page 12
Editors and Contributors......Page 13
1.1 The European Crises......Page 15
1.1.1 The Refugee Crisis and the EU Migration Policy......Page 16
1.1.2 Euroscepticism and the Brexit Referendum......Page 17
1.1.3 The Surge of Populism and the Politics of Intolerance......Page 18
1.2 The Identity-Otherness Dynamics......Page 20
1.3 Media Representations and the Fear of Otherness......Page 23
1.4 Conclusion......Page 25
References......Page 27
2.1 Introduction......Page 31
2.2 Social Knowledge and Social Representations......Page 32
2.2.1 Social Representations as Phenomena in Interaction......Page 33
2.2.2 Social Representations, Common Sense and Scientific Knowledge......Page 34
2.3 Social Representations and Communication. The Importance of the Media in the Genesis of Social Knowledge......Page 35
2.4 Culture, Social Representations, and Symbolic Universes......Page 37
2.5.1 Detecting the Semantic Structures of Social Representations......Page 39
2.5.2 Dataset......Page 40
2.5.3 Procedures and Operative Parameters......Page 42
2.5.4 Interpretation of the Semantic Structures......Page 46
2.6 Conclusion......Page 47
References......Page 48
3.1 Immigration Within and Towards Europe: A Long-Standing Variable Phenomenon......Page 53
3.2 Media Discourse on Immigration......Page 55
3.2.1 Variations in Narratives and Frames......Page 56
3.2.2 The Representations of Immigration and Immigrants in the European National Press......Page 57
3.3 The Present Study......Page 59
3.4.1 Sample, Keywords and Temporal Blocks......Page 60
3.4.2 Data Analysis......Page 61
3.5.1 Synchronic Analysis: The Semantic Structures Underlying the Social Representations of Immigration......Page 62
3.5.2 Diachronic Analysis: The Evolution of the Semantic Structures......Page 66
3.6 Discussion......Page 68
References......Page 70
4.1 Introduction......Page 74
4.2.1 Islamic Values and Culture......Page 75
4.2.2 Migration and Integration......Page 77
4.2.3 Terrorism and Crime......Page 78
4.2.4 The Present Study......Page 79
4.3.1 Sample and Temporal Blocks......Page 80
4.3.2 Automated Co-occurrence Analysis for Semantic Mapping......Page 81
4.4 Results......Page 82
4.4.1 Synchronic Analysis. Latent Semantic Structures Underlying the Press Representations of Islam......Page 83
4.4.3 Diachronic Analysis......Page 86
4.5 Discussion......Page 88
4.6 Conclusion......Page 90
References......Page 91
5.1 Introduction......Page 95
5.2 LGBT—Coming Out from Invisibility......Page 96
5.3 LGBT and the Sexualized Divide in Europe......Page 99
5.4 Method of the Present Study......Page 101
5.4.1 Analyses......Page 102
5.5.1 Synchronic Analysis. Latent Semantic Structures Underlying the Press Representations of LGBT Figures......Page 103
5.5.2 Cross-Countries Comparisons......Page 106
5.5.3 Diachronic Analysis......Page 107
5.6 Discussion......Page 108
5.7 Conclusion......Page 110
References......Page 111
6.1 Affective Sense-Making and Its Salience......Page 115
6.2.1 Method......Page 119
6.3 Results......Page 125
6.3.1 A Synoptic View of the Semantic Structures Underlying the Representations of Immigration, Islam, and LGBT People......Page 127
6.3.2 Relation Between the Semantic Structures and Affective Sense-Making (Lines of Semiotic Force)......Page 128
6.3.3 Interpretation of the Semantic Structures of Health, Participation, and Subjectivity......Page 130
6.3.4 Exposure to Otherness and Similarity of the Semantic Structures......Page 137
6.4 General Discussion......Page 138
References......Page 140
7.1 Introduction......Page 144
7.2 From Rational Choice to Bounded Rationality......Page 145
7.3 The Role of Culture: Homo Semioticus......Page 147
7.4 A Typology of the Roles of Culture for Policy Design......Page 148
7.5 Policy Through Culture Toolkit......Page 150
7.6 Functions and Contexts of Use of the Tools......Page 153
7.7 Final Remarks......Page 155
References......Page 156
