This dissertation is about the movement of people and the system of order
underpinning the movement. In undertaking a comparative study of Canada and France
between 1989 and 2005, the study explores a widespread phenomenon that security
studies and migration scholars would have considered an anomaly only two decades ago:
understanding the movement of people as an existential security threat.
How is it that nation-states around the globe are cracking down on migration for
security reasons? How do we know if migration has been securitized - and which criteria
should we employed to guide our analysis? What are the social mechanisms at play in the
interaction between movement and order? Does a variation in levels of securitized
migration exist - and if so, what are the key determinants of the variation? These
questions are at the heart of the present study.
My argument is twofold. First, I contend that a constructivist perspective is useful in
gaining a better understanding of the social mechanisms involved in the securitization of
migration as it highlights discursive power, ideational factors, and cultural/contextual
elements. Second, I argue that securitization theory - the current benchmark in
securitization research - remains silent on the issue of variation in levels of securitized
migration. As such, securitization theory, as currently applied and organized, cannot
explain empirical findings of my study - a weak securitization in Canada versus a strong
securitization in France. Underscoring the necessity to amend securitization theory, I
investigate the impact of cultural factors - and especially the role of domestic audience -
to account for the variation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU./2840 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Bourbeau, Philippe |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | 14122953 bytes, application/pdf |
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