A Discourse-Historical Analysis of the 2014 Vote ‘Against Mass Immigration’ in Switzerland

Author(s) : Bridget Marie Collrin

Source : https://curve.carleton.ca/4e45ed04-962a-40d6-b440-05eec05835f0

“This study investigates the 2014 vote ‘against mass immigration’(Masseneinwanderungs–
initiative) in Switzerland by employing a discourse–historical approach to critical discourse
analysis. The Foucauldian theoretical framework of governmentality is used to reveal how power
and knowledge production on immigration in Switzerland has been dominated by elite actors in
politics and the media. In the context of direct democracy and immigration governmentality in
Switzerland, it highlights how the national–conservative Swiss People’s Party (SVP) has used the
popular initiative as an instrument to exert their power, and push forward their anti–
Europeanization and anti–immigration agenda. Data is drawn from the SVP campaign and
fourteen articles from four major Swiss newspapers. By identifying the discursive strategies and
arguments of legitimation surrounding the vote, the analysis reveals how the existent fears of
‘over–foreignization’ are (re)produced in the polarizing discourses of the SVP and popular
media.“