Drawing the discourses of ontological security: Immigration and identity in the Danish and Swedish cartoon crises

Abstract

The controversy of the Danish cartoon crisis in 2006 overshadowed a similar one that took place in Sweden a year later. The crises have broadly been framed as a clash of values but both cases reveal differences worthy of investigation, namely for the complex tensions and convergences between the two states on questions of immigration, Nordic solidarity and national identity. This article aims to explore the intersubjective discourses of identity that were threaded through the debates on the cartoon crises, looking to the overlapping discourses that have constructed ideas of identity in terms of ontological security, or security of the self. It argues that both cartoon crises represent a complex discursive performance of identity that speaks to a broader set of ontological security concerns which intersect at the international, regional and national levels. Even in their differences, Swedish and Danish discourses show the tensions associated with the desire for a stable and consistent idea of self when contrasted with the Muslim 'other', explored in the context of discourses of modernity and tolerance, which operate as key sites that work to reiterate, reclaim and reinstate the idea of the progressive state.

The market for ontological security

“…Those mechanisms which effectively undermine the physical security of the self or others while seeking ontological security have been considered particularly maladaptive. The discursive construction of individual or collective identities through the othering of outgroups, such as immigrants, Muslims and oriental nations, has received particular attention and criticism (Steele 2008, Croft 2012, Rumelili 2015, Agius 2017, Browning and Joenniemi 2017, Steele 2017, Alkopher 2018. Although pervasive, this strategy is usually considered maladaptive because it frequently leads to securitisation.…”

“…Empirically and methodologically, the International Relations literature has so far focussed on the narratives and practices of states and the European Union to understand how ontological security can be maintained or regained (Mitzen 2006a, 2006b, Steele 2008, Croft 2012, Browning and Joenniemi 2013, Della Salla 2017, Agius 2017, Subotic 2018. However, as the introduction to this article has noted, characteristic of the recent European anxieties has been popular disillusionment with and distrust in collective political institutions.…”

“…These risk profiles support the production of seemingly stable identities by linking self-identity to particular lifestyles and narratives (Giddens 1991, p. 81). In addition, risk profiling frequently invokes, at least implicitly, the juxtaposition of the self to others (Kinnvall 2004, Agius 2017. In contrast to other fields and actors, however, PSCs rarely engage in the othering or securitisation of specific outgroups.…”

EU religious engagement in the Southern Mediterranean: Much ado about nothing?

“…In times of uncertainty, such as the Arab uprisings, states and organizations like the EU, competing for their ontological security (Mitzen, 2006) in search for ' a consistent and stable identity or sense of self' (Giddens in Agius, 2016: 2). Religious engagement as a physical and an ontological security practice provides the EU with 'a sense of continuity of self-identity' (Agius, 2016: 3) as a global actor. This self-identity, although debated internally, has historically been constructed around secularism which shapes the way 'practitioners think about religion and what is perceived to be religious' (Birnbaum, 2016: 2).…”

The effects of welfare state universalism on migrant integration

“…Even so, Denmark stands out among the Nordic states, as its public and political discourse has especially strong and widespread anti-immigrant propensities (e.g. Agius, 2017). Confronted with a rapidly growing number of non-Western migrants, Danish politicians from the centre-left rightwards have been increasingly pre-occupied by what they term the 'parallel societies' found in 'immigrant ghettos.'…”