Macro-Level Securitization of Micro-Integrated Threat Perceptions in Europe: A Case Study of Refugees in Turkey, Greece, And Germany
Macro-Level Securitization of Micro-Integrated Threat Perceptions in Europe: A Case Study of Refugees in Turkey, Greece, And Germany

Summary/Abstract: Before politicians used refugees as a tool of interstate relations, refugees and asylum seekers were perceived only as a symbolic or realist threat in social perception. With the use of refugees as a tool of international politics, the phenomenon of threats felt in society has deepened with securitization and started to pose threats to human security. This dialectical relationship between society and the state also changes and transforms the direction and form of the threat. The study will investigate how symbolic or realistic threat perceptions in the public have evolved into securitization by governments, how these two phenomena strengthen each other, and what they mean in terms of human security. The quantitative data used in this study will be explained with integrated threat and securitization theories. This study aims to examine the variations in threat perceptions associated with refugees in Europe, employing an integrated threat theory framework. The focus will be on investigating questions such as “What types of threats are attributed to the presence of refugees and asylum seekers in European countries?” and “What factors contribute to the divergence in perceived threats?”. Furthermore, the study will explore the implications of these divergent threat perceptions on national and regional migration governance within each country. This paper will focus on the refugee crisis and examine the cases of Turkey, Greece, and Germany, which are mainly on the refugee transit route and host the largest number of refugees in Europe. In order to describe which threat perception has a decisive impact on Europe, the 7th wave (2017-2020) datasets provided by the “World Values Survey (WVS)” from 2010-2022 will be examined in comparison with previous waves. The cases of Germany, Turkey, and Greece in these datasets will be the main focus of the study.

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