Advocating for Refugees in the European Union

Norm-Based Strategies by Civil Society Organizations

Melissa Schnyder and Noha Shawki

The crisis of forced displacement is compounded by the politicization of asylum and refugee protection, which have become polarizing issues in many countries in Europe and in the United States. It has animated efforts by pro-refugee civil society groups to engage in advocacy efforts that respond to the securitization of the issue, reframe it as a human rights and humanitarian issue, and bring about policies that are favorable to refugee protection. The contrasting points of view surrounding refugee and asylum policy reveal a fundamental normative difference in what is considered the most appropriate standard of behavior to guide actions and policies in the wake of the European refugee crisis. This normative difference, and the contestation that it entails, represents the starting point for this study of specific strategies of norm-based change. The study focuses on civil society organizations (CSOs) and the deliberate ways they incorporate and use norms in framing and responding to the issue of refugee protection. It seeks to understand and explain how and why pro-refugee advocacy groups choose to use specific norm-based strategies of advocacy in their effort to shift public opinion on the issues of asylum and refugee protection and ultimately bring about policy change.

Lexington Books

Pages: 238 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9

978-1-7936-0024-0 • Hardback • May 2020 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-7936-0025-7 • eBook • May 2020 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General, Political Science / Human Rights

Advocating for Refugees in the European Union

Norm-Based Strategies by Civil Society Organizations

Hardback

eBook

Summary

The crisis of forced displacement is compounded by the politicization of asylum and refugee protection, which have become polarizing issues in many countries in Europe and in the United States. It has animated efforts by pro-refugee civil society groups to engage in advocacy efforts that respond to the securitization of the issue, reframe it as a human rights and humanitarian issue, and bring about policies that are favorable to refugee protection. The contrasting points of view surrounding refugee and asylum policy reveal a fundamental normative difference in what is considered the most appropriate standard of behavior to guide actions and policies in the wake of the European refugee crisis. This normative difference, and the contestation that it entails, represents the starting point for this study of specific strategies of norm-based change. The study focuses on civil society organizations (CSOs) and the deliberate ways they incorporate and use norms in framing and responding to the issue of refugee protection. It seeks to understand and explain how and why pro-refugee advocacy groups choose to use specific norm-based strategies of advocacy in their effort to shift public opinion on the issues of asylum and refugee protection and ultimately bring about policy change.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 238 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9

978-1-7936-0024-0 • Hardback • May 2020 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-7936-0025-7 • eBook • May 2020 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General, Political Science / Human Rights

Author

Melissa Schnyder is professor of global security and international relations at American Public University.

Noha Shawki is professor in and associate chairperson of the department of politics and government at Illinois State University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Norm Contestation Involving Refugees as Persons in Need of Protection and Refugees as Security Threats

Chapter 1: Understanding Normative Contestation: A Theoretical Framework

Chapter 2: The Global Refugee Regime: An Overview of the Status-Quo

Chapter 3: Analyzing Far-Right Anti-Refugee Discourse in Europe: A Framing Approach

Chapter 4: Pro-Refugee Civil Society Advocacy at the European Union Level

Chapter 5: Pro-Refugee Civil Society Advocacy in High Contestation States: Austria, France, and Germany

Chapter 6: Pro-Refugee Civil Society Advocacy in Low Contestation States: Spain and Luxembourg

Conclusion: Reflections and Future Directions

Reviews

“What would a refugee policy look like that was not distorted by emotional and nationalist politics? In Advocating for Refugees in the European Union Schnyder and Shawki convincingly show that a norm-based approach could reshape immigration policy for the better.”
— Reece Jones, University of Hawaii at Manoa

“Advocating for Refugees in the European Union is a meticulously researched analysis of the impact civil society organizations have in adopting normative re-framing relating to migrants, and in particular, refugees seeking protection in Europe. It clarifies admirably the confusing array of initiatives and the complex interactions of policy actors. Above all it highlights the primary paradox of the migration debate, namely, how to protect migrants but at the same time reconciling norms with the forces of nationalism and populism. A highly recommendable addition to the migration literature.”
— Richard Lewis, Vrije Universteit Brussels