Forcing people to be free? A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Political Discourse on the Danish Ghettos

Abstract: The aim of the thesis is to examine the political discourse related to the Danish ‘ghettos’, and if and how this discourse can be related to ‘securitization of migration’ and ‘repressive liberalism’. The point of departure is the salient explanation in previous research, that the political discourse is deriving from a movement towards nationalism. The findings of the thesis show that the political discourse entails a securitized agenda towards social cohesion, aimed at protecting the liberal core values of the Danish society, even if this requires the use of illiberal means. However, constructing the Danish society as ‘only for liberals’ is excluding (illiberal) immigrants from the social fabric, and the intended objective of the ‘Ghetto Plan’, social integration, is counteracted by the very means proposed to promote it. The thesis thus contributes with an alternative understanding of the political discourse, which is seen to derive from liberalism itself, though it turns into a tougher and more substantial form, where membership of Danish society is ‘granted’ based on attitudes and beliefs.