Radicalisation in competitive authoritarian contexts: visualising refugees with DIY media

Abstract

This article focuses on how visual media interacts with the government practices in competitive authoritarian regimes. We argue that while the visual representation of refugees can in general mainstream radicalisation, it gains additional traction in authoritarian context as it streams political discontent away from the governments to ‘ungrateful’ refugees. The paper is built on an analysis of do-it-yourself (DIY) videos in Turkey and Hungary in relation to two specific events involving refugees. The extant research mostly looks into online activism via DIY media. However, we approach them from an opposite perspective and show that not only social movements, but also states benefit from the audience-making potential of DIY media insomuch as these videos appear less as government propaganda and more as representative of public opinion.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Horizon 2020 Framework Programme [Project No.959198, De-radicalisation in Europe and].

Notes on contributors

Hasret Dikici Bilgin

Hasret Dikici Bilgin is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of International Relations of Istanbul Bilgi University. She focuses on radicalisation, party politics and elections in the Middle East, and class issues in political Islam. She has published extensively in these areas in international journals and books. Her most recent publications are: ‘Süslüman: on class and gender issues in the Turkish political Islam’ (Turkish Studies, 2021), ‘Revisiting the moderation controversy with space and class: the Tunisian Ennahda’ (Third World Quarterly, 2021). She co-edited the book entitled Karşılaştırmalı siyaset: temel konular ve yaklaşımlar, which was awarded by the Turkish Academy of Sciences in 2014. She acts as the principal researcher of Turkey for the Horizon 2020 Project No.959198, De-radicalisation in Europe and beyond: detect, resolve, re-integrate. Dikici Bilgin serves as the summer schools coordinator at the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and vice-president of the Turkish Political Science Association (TPSA).

Umut Korkut

Umut Korkut is a Professor of International Politics at Glasgow School for Business and Society at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is also a member of the GCU Wise Centre for Economic Justice. He serves International Political Science Association (IPSA) as a Vice-President. Prof Korkut holds expertise in Turkish and Hungarian politics, and he has published numerous books and articles on issues covering religion, nationalism, gender, migration, and challenges of liberalisation in these states. He has a forthcoming edited book with Amsterdam University Press entitled The end of cosmopolitan Europe? Euroscepticism, crisis, and borders. Prof Korkut currently leads the EC Horizon 2020 funded research projects, De-radicalisation in Europe and beyond: detect, resolve, re-integrate (http://dradproject.com) (2020-2023) and Demos: democratic efficacy and varieties of populism in Europe (https://demos-h2020.eu/en) (2018-2022).

Roland Fazekas

Roland Fazekas is a doctoral researcher and project manager for ‘D.Rad: De-radicalisation in Europe and beyond: Detect, Resolve and Reintegrate’ an EC Horizon 2020 Funded research project at Glasgow Caledonian University. He was awarded with LLB Law with Criminology and LLM Applied Human Rights degrees at Sheffield Hallam University.