Casablanca- A Spanish research group has recently developed a method for identifying xenophobic political discourse. A case study of Catalonia shows that Moroccans are the target of xenophobia.
Casablanca- A Spanish research group has recently developed a method for identifying xenophobic political discourse. A case study of Catalonia shows that Moroccans are the target of xenophobia.
The Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration (GRITIM) at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona has developed a methodology to determine whether a political discourse is xenophobic, according to Spanish news website El Pajarito.
GRITIM studied the case of Catalonia and discovered that Moroccans are the main target of xenophobic discourse, according to the same source.
The research group analyzed 130 sources of information issued after parliamentary debates and media interviews involving six Catalonian parties between 2007 and 2012: the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), the Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV), the Socialists’ Party of Catalonia (PSC), the Convergence and Union Party (CiU), the People’s Party of Catalonia (PPC), and the Platform for Catalonia (PxC).
GRITIM’s study showed that the religion of Moroccans is the thing most attacked by politicians. “Those who are not Christians were the most affected,” El Pajarito quoted Richard Zapata-Barrero, director of GRITIM.
According to Zapata-Barrero, Latin Americans are are preferred over Moroccans, who are perceived negatively because of their different religion.
According to GRITIM, a political speech is considered xenophobic when it meets the first three of the 15 criteria outlined by the research group. The first criterion concerns the presentation of a speech that is addressed solely to the persons entitled to vote, to the exclusion of foreigners.
The second criterion relates to the transmission of an image of immigration through a discourse of polarity and conflict. The third criterion concerns the use of negative and exaggerated terms to convey xenophobic ideas to the voters.
“These three criteria are the basis for determining whether a message is xenophobic,” El Pajarito quoted Richard Zapata-Barrero, director of GRITIM.
“The rest helps us to see how it is articulated,” he added.
Edited by Elisabeth Myers
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed
