Climate Refugees in a Time of Nationalism: An Analysis of Europe's Political Discourse on Refugees

The headlines about the refugee crisis engulfing newspapers in Europe, the concerns about the prominent place of nationalism and populism in politics, and the increasing threats associated with climate change all spark the... [ view full abstract ]

The headlines about the refugee crisis engulfing newspapers in Europe, the concerns about the prominent place of nationalism and populism in politics, and the increasing threats associated with climate change all spark the necessary environmental justice analysis about the role that climate refugees play in this socio-political landscape. This paper hypothesizes that increasing national support for far-right political parties is predictive of lower levels of acceptance and acknowledgement of climate refugees. In order to delve into this question, this study engages the literature about the rise of the far right in Europe, the complex relationship between the far right and immigration, and the importance and the drawbacks of using the term “climate refugee.” International refugee law, defined by the 1951 Refugee Convention, does not legally recognize climate refugees as individuals “persecuted” in their home countries. Thus, the discourse about climate refugees wielded by politicians is imperative, yet often strips the climate refugees of their political and historical context by rendering them as victims or as threats. Therefore, building upon and nuancing a comparative data analysis across the European Union countries, this paper uses political discourse analysis in the case studies of Hungary, France, and Greece to analyze if climate refugees are–or will be–differentiated from other refugees in order for nations to provide asylum or diffuse responsibility.