Writing Insecurity: Representations of Muslims in South Africa’s Print Media Between 2001 and 2014

ABSTRACT

Newspapers as an infrastructural form both circulate and construct security knowledge. In analysing South African national newspapers’ pivotal role in the securitisation of Muslims, this paper displays the political rationality behind such securitisation. It identifies and examines instances of securitisation within the South African press. Specifically, utilising discourse analytical tools to operationalise the theory and to identify how the securitisation of Muslims have taken place, this paper analyses newspaper utterances that label Muslims as the ‘enemy’ with the expectation that such speech-acts result, instantaneously, in the introduction of emergency measures to stop the threat. The intention is to show that the South African press is integral to a network that enables the aims of the so-called ‘War on Terror’. Labelling the press a securitising agent is consistent with contemporary theorisation but challenges the original conception of securitisation theory.

Acknowledgements

The author appreciates the valuable comments and guidance offered by the reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Western political thought is diverse, thus not monolithic. However, for pragmatic reasons, the notions ‘the West’ and ‘Western’ refer specifically to the political power elite within the Western world.

2 Afrikaans newspaper articles were translated into English by this author.