Mobilization Against Asylum Seekers in Contemporary Urban Spaces: Not in Our Backyard

217 Pages·2022·3.143 MB·English

by  Segers Iris Beau

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MOBILIZATION AGAINST ASYLUM
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P Iris Beau Segers
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Mobilization against Asylum
Seekers in Contemporary Urban
Spaces
This book investigates the issue of local mobilization against asylum seek-
ers in urban areas, which are often disproportionally affected by complex
issues related to immigration and integration, as well as socio-economic
development and growing inequalities. Based on ethnographic research in
the city of Rotterdam, it explores the conditions under which mobilization
against the establishment of an asylum seekers’ centre emerged, offering a
combined analysis of interviews, social media, and mainstream media to
demonstrate the key role played by storytelling in the development of oppo-
sition to the arrival of asylum seekers. Presenting a theoretical model of
anti-immigration mobilization that connects the social importance of sto-
rytelling to broader socio-political developments and conditions, this vol-
ume will appeal to scholars of sociology, anthropology, and politics with
interests in migration, social movements, and mobilization around conten-
tious issues.
Iris Beau Segers is a researcher at the Center for Research on Extremism at
the University of Oslo, Norway.
The Mobilization Series on Social Movements, Protest, and
Culture
Series editor:
Professor Hank Johnston, San Diego State University, USA
Published in conjunction with Mobilization: An International Quarterly,
the premier research journal in the field, this series publishes a broad range
of research in social movements, protest and contentious politics. This is
a growing field of social science research that spans sociology and politi-
cal science as well as anthropology, geography, communications and social
psychology. Enjoying a broad remit, the series welcome works on the fol-
lowing topics: social movement networks; social movements in the global
South; social movements, protest, and culture; personalist politics, such as
living environmentalism, guerrilla gardens, anticonsumerist communities,
anarchist-punk collectives; and emergent repertoires of contention.
Racialized Protest and the State
Resistance and Repression in a Divided America
Edited by Hank Johnston and Pamela Oliver
Power and Protest at an American University
No Confidence, No Fear
Edited by Ellen Carnaghan and Kathryn E. Kuhn
Exiled Activism
Political Mobilization in Egypt and England
David McKeever
Resisting the Backlash
Street Protest in Italy
Donatella della Porta, Niccolò Bertuzzi, Daniela Chironi, Chiara Milan,
Martín Portos and Lorenzo Zamponi
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
com/The-Mobilization-Series-on-Social-Movements-Protest-and-Culture/
book-series/ASHSER1345
Mobilization against Asylum
Seekers in Contemporary Urban
Spaces
Not in Our Backyard
Iris Beau Segers
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2022 Iris Beau Segers
The right of Iris Beau Segers to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Parts of this book have been rewritten and adapted from the following
articles, with permission of the publisher:
Segers, I. B. (2021). New neighbours or a security threat? The role
of local stories in anti-asylum seeker centre mobilization in the
Netherlands. International Communication Gazette, 83(1), 48-62.
doi:10.1177/1748048519883514
Segers, I. B. (2020). The “Brick and Mortar” of Mobilization?
Storytelling and Materiality in Anti-Asylum Seeker Center
Protests in the Netherlands. Contention, 8(2), 53-73. doi: 10.3167/
cont.2020.080204
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-76561-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-76567-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-16756-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003167563
Typeset in Times
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
This book is dedicated to my grandfather,
Cornelis (Co) van der Smagt.

Contents
List of figures viii
List of tables ix
1 Introduction: The refugee crisis in an urban context 1
2 Why do people protest against asylum seekers?
A story-based approach 8
3 Immigration and urban space: The Dutch context 57
4 Stories and the self: Identity and fear of the ‘other’ 81
5 Stories you can touch: Urban materiality and protest 106
6 Voiceless stories: Contentious politics and distrust 123
7 Media coverage of protest: Dominant stories and
counterstories 153
8 An online echo chamber? Social media and
mobilization 170
9 Conclusion: Why stories matter 189
Index 203
Figures
2.1 Main explanatory model of mobilization 34
4.1 Identity theme, sub-themes, and codes 82
5.1 Materiality theme, sub-themes, and codes 107
6.1 Voice theme, sub-themes, and codes 124
8.1 Facebook engagement ‘No AZC in Beverwaard’ 171
8.2 Links shared in ‘No AZC in Beverwaard’
Facebook community 172
9.1 Main explanatory model of mobilization 191
Tables
2.1 Anti-immigration mobilization theories: an overview 22
2.2 Overview of data collection and analysis 37
2.3 Operationalization of ‘visibility’ 42
2.4 Operationalization of ‘resonance’ 42
2.5 Operationalization of ‘legitimacy’ 43
7.1 Attention given to news stories within the AZC
debate, national versus local Dutch media 154
7.2 Media stories about the ‘tent meeting’ 156
7.3 Media stories about ‘local resistance against the AZC’ 157
7.4 Media stories about ‘municipal decision making AZC’ 159
7.5 Media stories about ‘area committee conflict’ 160
7.6 Media stories about ‘radical right/extreme right actors’ 161
7.7 Protesters’ discursive opportunities in media stories
about the tent meeting 162
7.8 Protesters’ discursive opportunities in media stories
about local resistance against the asylum seekers’ centre 163
7.9 Protesters’ discursive opportunities in media stories
about municipal decision-making 163
7.10 Protesters’ discursive opportunities in media stories
about municipal decision-making 164
7.11 Protesters’ discursive opportunities in media stories
about radical right/extreme right actors 164
7.12 Opinion articles and columns 165
8.1 Story categories in ‘No AZC in Beverwaard’
Facebook community 173
8.2 Facebook community stories about ‘Asylum seekers/
AZCs/immigration’ 174
8.3 Facebook community stories about ‘Local politics’ 177
8.4 Facebook community stories about ‘National politics’ 179
8.5 Facebook community stories about the
‘Stigmatization of anti-AZC protesters’ 179
8.6 Facebook community stories about ‘Mainstream media’ 180
8.7 Mobilization on Facebook 183