On Othering Migrants and Queers : Political Communication Strategies of Othering in Romania and the Republic of Moldova

Sammanfattning: Research on migration often focuses on non-citizens such as migrants being excluded from the framework of citizenship. This study suggests a novel approach by focusing on non-citizens and citizens alike, while exploring the strategies of othering in relation to how citizenship is constructed. It discusses and comparatively analyses the ways in which migrants, as non-citizens, and LGBT+ individuals, as a particular category of citizens, are framed as not conforming to the norms proposed by nationalist and populist ideologies in SouthEastern European (SEE) countries. Even if they are citizens, they are excluded from “national belonging” by populist political leaders in their communications. The study compares the category of LGBT+ persons to that of migrants and explores how both are framed in political communications using populist strategies of othering. It also shows that these two categories are placed at the outside of the nation state and of the notion of citizenship. Moreover, it highlights the multiple tropes that are employed in the process of othering and that refer to how nations are defined through their “traditional values”, “morality”, “religious views” and a strong opposition to what is considered to belong to the Western progressive values. The body of material comprises statements mostly made by highly positioned politicians such as Presidents, Ministers, Prime Ministers, etc. from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.These politicians shape the internal and foreign policies of the two countries and their communications have a great impact in different areas of the society. The analysis shows that the social dimension of citizenship is important in how a certain category of citizens is framed as not belonging to the nation state. The results based on the analysis of this less researched material are consistent with the trend of anti-gender movements and the increasing anti immigration stances in other Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.