Caught between Vulnerability and Competence – UNHCR’s Visual Framing of Refugees, Economic Threat Perceptions and Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers in Germany

Studies of migration-related security concerns have focused on the emergence of these concerns through securitization or their potential dissolution through desecuritization. This paper challenges the conventional view of these processes—securitization and desecuritization—as oppositional and mutually exclusive. Instead, it argues that they are imbricated in complex ways in an arena of contestation where actors vie for legitimacy and justify their claims through ongoing actions and reactions. Focusing on the Global South case of securitized migration in the Dominican Republic, this paper conceptualizes desecuritization not as a discrete outcome measured by success or failure, but as a dynamic process evolving through interactions with securitization. By examining the role of non-state actors in contesting securitized policies, the paper reveals that such contestation can paradoxically intensify securitization through a “security backlash” that delegitimizes these actors and discredits their rights-based claims. This dynamic underscores the “resilience” of securitization amidst persistent contestation. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates desecuritization as iterative contestation rather than static outcomes, emphasizing the agency of non-state actors in shaping security narratives and practices while acknowledging their limitations against powerful state actors. These insights from a study of South–South migration extend the application of the securitization framework beyond convenient Western contexts and challenge perceived geographic boundaries.

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Vulnerability or resilience tweets? A comparative analysis of media outlets versus non-governmental organizations visual representations of the 2023 Morocco earthquake survivors

Elhosary

2024

International Communication Gazette

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This comparative study explores the vulnerability/resilience visual framing pattern in the survivors-related visuals tweeted by 16 media outlets and 18 non-governmental organizations during the 2023 Morocco earthquake. The study proposes a vulnerability/resilience framework and investigates its potential impact on X engagement metrics. The results indicate discrepancies between media outlets and non-governmental organizations in their vulnerability/resilience perspectives as well as their gendered representations of the survivors. Theoretical and practical implications of visual framing and strategic crisis communication are further discussed.

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Caught between Vulnerability and Competence – UNHCR’s Visual Framing of Refugees, Economic Threat Perceptions and Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers in Germany

Cited by 3 publications

References 76 publications

Superhero in a skirt: Psychological resilience of Ukrainian refugee women in Poland. A thematic analysis

Superhero in a skirt: Psychological resilience of Ukrainian refugee women in Poland. A thematic analysis

Contesting the Securitization of Migration: NGOs, IGOs, and the Security Backlash

Vulnerability or resilience tweets? A comparative analysis of media outlets versus non-governmental organizations visual representations of the 2023 Morocco earthquake survivors

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