Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Migration Control

In the midst of an international crisis in migration policy – widely referred to as a ‘refugee crisis’ – this book brings together timely analyses of the manifold and yet specific ways in which migration affects globalized societies, set against the background of the rise of nationalist and populist movements. The voices of migrants and refugees are rarely heard in this context: usually, they are debated about, summarized and reported but their agency is denied. Each contribution to this volume adds an empirical perspective to our understanding of how language relates to migration in a specific national context. The chapters use innovative combinations of multimodal, qualitative and quantitative analyses to examine a broad range of genres and data related to the voices of migrants and reporting about migrants.

The current political discourses on processes of globalization, migration and social participation capitalize on feelings of fear and insecurity. They demonize ‘the other’, thereby turning the spotlight away from the systemic problems of social inequality and poverty. Based on concrete cases, this ‘must read’ book deconstructs the covert and overt mechanisms of migration control, exclusion and discrimination., Controlling migration is not just about borders and enforcement, it is also about discourses of control and of resilience, struggle and belonging. This book offers a rich set of case studies that critically illustrate the close links between power, politics and discourse in the governance of migration. It is an essential read for researchers and scholars but also for interested citizens, the third sector and politicians., ...this socially-engaged contribution to the sociolinguistics of mobility and displacement is very welcome., Rheindorf and Wodak have succeeded in assembling a diverse yet cohesive collection of sociolinguistic studies on migration control, likely to interest a broad readership. This includes those interested in the language-migration research intersections, or more generally in the interplay between language and policy making (both including but also more broadly than just language policy) [...] The range of methodological and conceptual approaches included offers a valuable showcase for emerging sociolinguist researchers, beyond those interested specifically in migration., While each chapter provides a unique and informative perspective on various topics, the volume presents a unified analysis of the relationship between language, mobility, and institutions. The authors fulfill the goal they established when compiling the volume: to evaluate how migration operates within the context of globalization with a focus on migrant voices.

Markus Rheindorf is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna, Austria. His research interests include Critical Discourse Studies, Migration Studies, Media Discourse and Populism.Ruth Wodak is an Emeritus Distinguished Professor at Lancaster University, UK and the University of Vienna, Austria. She has published widely, including The Politics of Fear: What Right-wing Populist Discourses Mean (2015, Sage).