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8/19/2019 'Help! the Poles Are Coming'- Narrating a Contemporary Moral Panic
1/14
'Help! The Poles Are Coming': Narrating a Contemporary Moral Panic
Author(s): Roos PijpersReviewed work(s):Source: Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, Vol. 88, No. 1 (2006), pp. 91-103Published by: Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and GeographyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3554409 .Accessed: 02/11/2012 21:18
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8/19/2019 'Help! the Poles Are Coming'- Narrating a Contemporary Moral Panic
2/14
'HELP THE POLES
ARE
COMING'1:
NARRATING
A
CONTEMPORARY
MORAL
PANIC
by
Roos
Pijpers
Pijpers,
R.,
2006:
'Help
The
Poles
are
coming':
narrating
a con-
temporary
moral
panic.
Geogr.
Ann.,
88
B
(1):
91-103.
ABSTRACT.
In the
years
and months
prior
to the
May
2004 en-
largement
of the
European
Union,
transitional
periods
of two
to
possibly
seven
years
were
imposed
upon
free movement of labour
for
immigrant
workers
from new
(Eastern
European)
member
states
by
a
majority
of
'old' member states. This article aims
to
scrutinize fear of mass migrationfrom new member states by ex-
amining
where
(ir)rationality
and
political
opportunism
meet
in
the
perception
of
this
particular
flow
of
labour
migration
as
a
cause
for
contemporary
moral
panic.
To this
purpose,
the article
starts with
embedding
the notion of fear
of
mass
migration
in
lit-
erature
on moral
panics,
risk
society
and the
'othering'
of
eco-
nomic
migrants
as
strangers
and
folk
devils.
By
means of a case
study
narrative
of
the
decision-making
process
on the free move-
ment
issue in the
Netherlands,
it is
subsequently
demonstrated
that
'politics
of fear' are
deeply
rooted in the
uncontrollability
of
mobilities of
an unknown
magnitude
and an uncertain
impact
on,
for
instance,
domestic
labour markets.
Beyond
rationalizable
con-
cerns of
job
loss,
however,
labour
migrants
from
new member
states
are also feared as threats
to borders of
morality
and
identity
in Western Europeansocieties. The narrative's results are placed
within a wider context
of current
boundary drawings
with
regard
to
migration
in the
enlarging European
Union.
Key
words:
enlargement,
fear of mass
migration,
moral
panics,
risk
society, boundary
drawing,
narratives.
It is
widely
acknowledged
hatthis is the
age
of moral
panic.
(Thompson,
1998,
p.
1)
We
may
call it
a
border;
bjection
s above all
ambiguity.
(Kristeva,
1982,
p.
9)
Introduction
The
date 16
April,
2003,
may
be
regarded
s
his-
toric
in
the
process
of
European
ntegration.
This
day
witnessed
he
signing
of
the
Treaty
of
Athens,
in
which the 2004
accession of ten new member
states nto the
European
Union was
officially
aid
down.
In
thecourse
owards
nlargement,
owever,
the ratificationof
the
Treatyby
the various EU
member
states
ed
to fierce
parliamentary
iscus-
sions overperceivednegativeconsequences f en-
largement, mong
which
s
labour
mmigration,
he
focus of this article.
Having pentmanyyears
com-
plying
with
membership
bligations
the
Copenha-
gen
accession
criteria
and the
acquis
communau-
taire),
accession
countries
were
on
the
verge
of re-
ceiving
membership
ights
as well.
Freedom
of la-
bour,
allowing
EU
citizens to take
on
paid
employment
n
another
member
state,
is
one of
these (fundamental) ights. In rapid succession
however,
overnments
f most 'old'
member
tates
(with
the notable
exception
of
Ireland,
he
United
Kingdom
and
Sweden)
decidedto close
theirdo-
mestic labour
market
or
immigrant
workers
rom
new member tates
(with
the
exception
of
Cyprus
and
Malta)
or
a
period
of
at
least two and
possibly
even
seven
years.
This
articleexamines
the
Dutch case. Fears
of
massive flows
of
immigrants
coming
from
new
memberstates after
enlargement,
s
well as
their
assumed
mpact
on
labour
markets nd
he welfare
state,
has led to
intense
political
and
public
discus-
sion in the
Netherlands,
ulminating
n
a
govern-
mental
decision
to
impose
transitional
eriods
on
free movement
of
labour
as
well. The five-month
period
n
which
fear of mass
migration
rom
new
member tates
eatured
n
the media
headlines
will
serve
as
a time
framewithin which to
narrate
he
case,
drawing
on
reports
of
parliamentary
ebates
and
media
coverage.
Embedded
n literatureon
moral
panics,
risk
society
and
the
'othering'
of
strangers,
he
primary
im of this case
study
elab-
orations to reflecton theconsequencesof fear of
mass
migration
or
borderingprocesses,
which to
an otherwise
mportant
xtent are
rooted
in
irra-
tionality,
xaggeration
nd
political
opportunism.
Changing
versus
converging
spaces
of
social
anxiety
From
safety
discourse
to risk
society
The
concept
of moral
panic
was
introduced
by
Stanley
Cohen
n
his seminalwork Folkdevils
and
moralpanics'of 1972,tellingthestoryof societal
uproar
n the United
Kingdom
over
clashes be-
tween two
youthgangs
named Mods'and
'Rock-
?
The author
(2006)
Journal
compilation
?
(2006)
Swedish
Society
for
Anthropology
and
Geography
91
8/19/2019 'Help! the Poles Are Coming'- Narrating a Contemporary Moral Panic
3/14
ROOS
PIJPERS
ers'.
The
uproar
was
completely
blown out
of
pro-
portion
by
the mass
mediaand
subsequently
aised
fiercedebates
over
British
morality
nd,
closely
re-
lated,
dentity.
This
'Modsand
Rockers' ase
is the
best-knownexample of a classic moral panic,
which
broadly
ncludesanxieties
about
nterrelated
issues of
youth,
sex
andviolence:
youthgangs,
pae-
dophilia,
homosexuality,
IDS,
sex on
screen,
and
so on
(Thompson,
1998;
Critcher,
2003).
Moral
panics
differ
romconcerns
about,
or
example,
un-
employment
or labour
market
ntegration
n the
sense that
they
threaten
ociety's
moralorder-
or
an
'ideological
conception
of some
part
of
it'
(Thompson,
998,
p.
8).
A
moral
panic
s
instigated
by
an
individual
r
group
who
perceives
moralor-
deras
endangered.
hose
calling
attention
o a
per-
ceivedthreatarecalled'moral
entrepreneurs'
Co-
hen,
1972)
or 'claims
makers'
(Goode
and Ben-
Yehuda,
1994).
Anothercharacteristic
f
a moral
panic
s
the
presence
of 'folk
devils':
In the
gallery
of
types
that
society
erects to
show
its members
which
roles should be
avoided
and
which
shouldbe
emulated,
hese
groups
have
occupied
a
constant
position
as
folk
devils: visible
reminders
of
what
we
should
not be.
(Cohen,1972,p. 10)
When
political
and
public
interest fades
away
again,
a
moral
panic
has reached
a
stage
wherein
the features
of
deviancy
and
deviantbehaviour
re
confirmed
s
stereotypes
for
a
detailed
description
see
Cohen,
1972,
and
Thompson,
1998).
Goode
andBen-Yehuda
ttach o moral
panics
he
criteri-
on of
disproportionality:
perceived
threat
s a
moral
panic,
they
argue,only
when the
media at-
tention
paid
o it
by
far
surpasses
he
objective,
eal
threatposed to society.This 'objectivity' s ob-
tained
hrough
ational
alculation
ndrisk assess-
ment of
supposed
negative
consequences,
which
implies
hatmost
moral
panics
canbe identified n-
ly,
and
sometimes
long,
afterwards
Goode
and
Ben-Yehuda,
1994).2
Ungar
2001)
urges
us
to
dismissthe
concept
of
moral
panics,
at least
in
its classic
meaning,argu-
ing
that
at the time
of Cohen's
Mods and
Rockers,
social
anxiety
emerged
and
faded
away
again)
n
a dominantdiscourse
of
safety.
Identifying
olk
devils as well
as the threat
hey
posed
was
fairly
easy,
as was the establishment f effectivecontrol
systems
to
counterbalance
heir
perceived
nflu-
ence.
Nowadays,
social
anxieties
are
embedded
n
a dominant
iscourse
of
risk
(Ungar,
2001).
In
Ul-
richBeck's
'risk
society',
the
contingent
nd
scale-
indifferent
natureof
many
of
society's
contempo-
rarydangers
fundamentalism,
errorism,
andem-
ics, tonamebutafew)is emphasized, ausedby
ir-
reversible
lobal
developments
uch
as mass
ndus-
trialization
nd
progress
n information
echnology
(Hier,
2003).
Classic
moral
panics
iterature
ends
to be foremost
oncerned
with
dentifying
olk
dev-
ils
in
localized
settings
which constitute
limited
spatial
and
emporal
hreats'
Hier,
2003).
The
dan-
gers
mentioned
above
lack such
a
clearly
defined
folk
devil,
which renders
them
very
difficult
to
seize and
therefore
erhaps
an even
greater
eason
for
moral
panic.
Moreover,
he
diffuse
character
f
new fears
generates
imilarly
diffuse
kinds
of
folk
devils,
namely
governments,
ransnational
ompa-
nies,
even
multiple
nstitutions
at the same
time
(Ungar,
001).
Yet
spaces
of social
anxiety
are
con-
verging:
ven
though
almostno one
escapes
aware-
ness of
globalization
hrough
he
influence
of
mass
media,
this
awareness
tands oose
from the
per-
sistent
importance
f
one's
immediate
socio-spa-
tial environment:
perceptions
f
risk are
situated
within
he
contextof
routinised nd
normalised
o-
cal order
and the
production
and
functioning
of
everyday
iving'
(Hier,
2003,
p.
13).
Risk
society
s
thusmediated,but not necessarily ived.Regard-
less of
spatial
cale, therefore,
moral
panics
artic-
ulate beliefs
about
belonging
and
not
belonging,
about he
sanctity
of
territory
nd
the fearof
trans-
gression'
Sibley,
1995,
p.
43).
The labour
immigrant
as
stranger
and
folk
devil
Are labour
mmigrants
ontemporary
olk
devils?
Before
answering
his
question
will
firstaddress
another ne:
Are new
social fears
n
any
way
con-
nected o the more'mundane' ircumstancewhich
is economic
slowdown?
David
Sibley
states
irmly
that there
s 'no obvious
connection'
between
so-
cial anxieties
and
economic
crises
1995,
p.
39)
and
indeed,
n countries uch
as Ireland
nd
the
United
Kingdom,
ierce
mmigration
ebates
have
co-ex-
isted next
to
relatively
table
growth
ates
n recent
years.
However,
he
current tate
of the
economy
would seem
to have a
more
profound
mpact
han
previous
ecessions,
at
least n
continental
Europe.
Job loss
after
times
of sheer
endless
optimism
about
he
'new'
economy,supposedly
urning
he
characteristic
yclical upward
rendof economic
growth
nto
a linear
one,
has
been
enormous
and
widespread.
Anxiety
over
job
competition
among
Geografiska
Annaler
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8/19/2019 'Help! the Poles Are Coming'- Narrating a Contemporary Moral Panic
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'HELP
THEPOLESARE COMING':NARRATING CONTEMPORARY ORALPANIC
domestic workers
is
only
reinforced
by
the
poten-
tial
presence
on the
labour market of outsiders who
are able and
willing
to
accept
more
jobs
for lower
wages.
Labour contracts
are
increasingly
temporal
in duration at the expense of permanentcontracts.
Welfare states are
reorganized.
Moreover,
risks
of
industrial
production
facilities
getting
relocated to
faraway
places
are
higher
than before: moderniza-
tion 'has reached the
furthest lands
of
the
planet'
(Bauman,
2004,
p.
6).
These
concerns,
set in
the
mind of
the
risk-avoiding
economic
agent,
call for
appropriate
and effective
measures:
responsibility
for not
having,
not
finding
or not
keeping
work is
transferred
o
others,
in this
case labour
immigrants
from new member
states.
Open
borders
can be
closed and access to
competitive
labour
markets ef-
fectively
denied.
Fear of mass
migration
stretches
beyond
fear
of
job
loss and social
benefit misuse.
Being
assumed
to
pursue
'evil'
agendas
of collective
action
(steal-
ing
away
'our'
jobs,
shopping
the
welfare
state),
immigrants
are accused
of
threatening
the
moral
order
proper.
They challenge
the invisible lines
wrapped
around that
order, which,
with some
sense
of
imagination, may
be called
society's
moral
boundaries:
Moral panics are likely to 'clarify [the] nor-
mative contours'
and 'moral boundaries'
of
the
society
in which
they
occur,
demon-
strat[ing]
that
there are
limits to
how
much di-
versity
can
be
tolerated in
a
society....
In
fact,
it is
entirely likely
that moral
panics
serve as
a
mechanism for
simultaneously strengthening
and
redrawing
society's
moral boundaries
-
that line between
morality
and
immorality,
just
where one
leaves
the
territory
of
good
and
enters that
of evil.
(Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994, pp. 29 and 52)
Moral boundaries come to the surface and hence
are
'open'
for reinforcement
only
when threatened
by
some outside force. National
identity,
embedded
in
society's history
and
maintained
in
silent
con-
sent,
is the
subject
of renewed
discussion.
Often,
the
immigrant
is assumed to
behave
incompatibly
with
national
identity
even before
accessing
na-
tional
territory:
n
migration policy
documentation,
non-nationals
(whether
they
be
labour
immigrants
or
political
refugees)
are named 'aliens' and
'stran-
gers'
to our
territory
and to us.
Inspired by
the work
of
Zygmunt
Bauman
(cf.
1997,
2004),
an increas-
ingly large
stream
of
literature is devoted to the
'philosophy
of
strangers'
within
social
theory
(cf.
Diken, 1998;
Van
Houtum and Van
Naerssen, 2002;
Hier,
2003),
tying
in
the
exclusionary
status of
many immigrants
to
the
'discontents'
of
globaliza-
tion (Bauman, 1997). In risk society, immigrants
are
considered
mere side-effects or even 'the
waste' of
globalization
and are thus feared as
dis-
order-bringing
strangers
(Bauman, 2004).
Just as
folk devils remind
us
of
what we should
not
be,
as
Cohen
insightfully
argued,
the
presence
of eco-
nomic
migrants
in our midst reminds us of
what we
could be
in
case
our
currently
favourable
circum-
stances take a
turn
for the
worse. We
'risk'
becom-
ing migrants
ourselves
when
jobs
are
reallocated
to
'others'
by
cost-minimizing
business
managers
(Bauman,
2004).
Others
(cf.
Kristeva, 1982;
Bali-
bar, 1991;
Sibley,
1995,
1998)
draw on
psychoan-
alytical
work on the
impurity
of the human
body
to
reach much the same
conclusion.
'Them'
looking
or
acting
'different'
causes harmless
feelings
of cu-
riosity
and sensation
alongside
much
more
power-
ful
sentiments
of
repulsion
and
estrangement
among
'us'.
Social
rejection
invoked
by bodily
ab-
jection
articulates
into
space through processes
of
bordering,
exclusion
and
purification:
Recognising
that
some
groups
are
abject
also
suggests that it is insufficient to focus solely
on
problems
of
integration
into
labour
mar-
kets. Exclusion
from labour markets
may
be a
consequence
from their
abject
status
or ... be-
ing
in
or out of
a
labour
market
may
not be an
issue.
(Sibley,
1998,
p.
95)
Eager
to
keep
the
fragile
order
secure,
control
mechanisms are
installed and enforced
upon
those
feared because of their
very
'being'
as
well as
their
being in a migratory position, either excluding
them from a
territory
or
restricting
their
freedom of
movement once inside.
In
that
sense,
the
guarding
of moral boundaries
may
well result
in
an
upgrad-
ing
of the
physical
borders of the
nation-state,
or of
the access restrictions
prevailing
in
some
parts
and/
or
segments
of the
nation-state or
the
national econ-
omy
(in
this case the
labour
market).
Through
these
kinds of
policies
and
practices,
in
turn,
the mem-
bers of such bordered communities
(in
this case do-
mestic,
often low-skilled
employees) enjoy
a cer-
tain
degree
of
protection
and
hence of
security
(Hi-
er,
2003).
Economic
risk,
more
likely
to strike and
be
felt
locally
than
other
contemporary dangers,
is
therefore
very
much
part
of risk
society,
in which
Geografiska
Annaler
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ROOS PIJPERS
Table
1.
Transitional
arrangements
in
member states.
Member state Transitional
period Key
flanking
measure
Austria
2
to
7
years
Belgium At least 2 years
Denmark
At
least 2
years
Access
only
in case
of
full-time
job
Finland At least 2
years
France
At
least 2
years
Germany
2 to
7
years
Bilateral
arrangements
still valid
Greece At least 2
years
Ireland
None
Limited
access to welfare
benefits
Italy
At
least 2
years
Quota
system
Luxembourg
At
least 2
years
The
Netherlands
At
least
2
years
Except
for
specific
jobs
and sectors
Portugal
At
least 2
years
Quota
system
Spain
At
least
2
years
Quota
system
Sweden None
Limited
access
to welfare benefits
United
Kingdom
None
Limited
access to welfare
benefits
Source: EURES:
The
European
Job
Mobility
Portal at
http://europa.eu.int/eures
desires for
security
and
order are often fulfilled
by
constructing
folk devil-like
strangers
out
of
labour
immigrants.
Moral
border
guards
Literature
on moral
panics
and risk
society
distin-
guishes
a
fairly
broad
range
of
potential
moral
en-
trepreneurs:
ndividual
politicians, political parties,
opinion-makers,interest groups, the media (Goode
and
Ben-Yehuda, 1994;
Thompson,
1998; Critcher,
2003;
Hier,
2003).
Several
empirical
studies
report
the moral 'border
guarding'
of
immigrants
and
asy-
lum-seekers.
Claims-making
activities of
(Western
European) parliaments,
for
example,
have
been
ex-
amined
by
Van
Dijk,
who
demonstrates
convincing-
ly
that, indeed,
parliamentary
debates
often
nega-
tively
represent immigrants
as unknown
others and
therefore as 'threatsto the
nation'
(Van
Dijk,
1997).
In
the case of the
Netherlands,
Erik
Snel identifies a
number of influential individual moral entrepre-
neurs
who have
recently portrayed
he
failing-to-in-
tegrate immigrant
as folk devil. These
individuals,
including
politicians
as
well
as
opinion-makers,
cat-
alysed
anti-immigration
sentiments
otherwise
thought
of as
virtually
non-existent,
marking
the be-
ginning
of a
wholly
different
perception
of
immigra-
tion and
integration
ssues.
Previously
the
subject
of
political
care
due
to socio-economic
deprivations,
the
non-Western
mmigrant
s
increasingly regarded
as a
threat to
Dutch
cultural
identity
and domestic
norms
and values
(Snel,
2003).
Taking
on the
perspective
of the
general
public,
Lynn
and
Lea
(2003)
analyse
the
ways
in
which
public opinion
about
asylum
policy
in the
United
Kingdom expressed
in
newspapers
contributes
to
the social construction of
asylum-seekers
as
stran-
gers.
They
identify
a discursive rhetoric
which
strongly supports
the idea that the vox
populi
may
arouse
perceptions
of
asylum-seekers
as undesired
and to be
rejected
as well
(Lynn
and
Lea,
2003,
see
also Goode and
Ben-Yehuda,
1994).
In
fact,
both
Thompson
(1998)
and Critcher
(2003)
find
that
a
large part of the 'distortion' moral panics suffer
from
in
terms of
exaggeration
and
disproportional-
ity may
be accredited to
the
media. Social anxieties
instigated
either
at
decision/opinion-making
levels
or in
localized
settings by
the
general public
can
be
and
are
spread
by
national
and local
media.
In
a
way,
therefore,
moral
panics
over
migration
issues
are not dissimilar to what
crowd
psychology
in
as
early
as
the
beginning
of
the twentieth
century
an-
alysed
as
'irrational movements'
(Balibar,
1991,
p.
23).
On the other
hand,
contemporary
claims-mak-
ing leaves folk devils less marginalized than be-
fore:
their
voice
is
made heard
in
and
by
the media
as well
(Hier, 2003).
Elite
actors,
the
general public
and the
media are
inextricably
linked in
instigating
social
anxiety
about
migration
at
different,
yet, through
informa-
tion transfer
and
locally
lived economic
insecurity,
converging spatial
scales.
Hence
unravelling
their
relative
importance
s a
complex
task. Viewed
in this
context,
the
'leap-frogging'
of restrictive
measures
(transitional
periods imposed upon
free movement
of
labour)
with
regard
to
immigrant
workers from
the
European
Union's new
member states
is
likely
to
be caused
by
a chain
reaction of fear of mass
migra-
tion
(for
an
overview,
see Table
1).
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'HELP
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A
CONTEMPORARY
MORAL
PANIC
Narrating
fear
of mass
migration:
the
Dutch
case
Moral
panics
and
narrative
Theremainder f this article s devoted o a case
study
of fear of
mass
migration
romnew member
states
n
the
Netherlands,
ulminating
n the
clos-
ing
(or
rather
ery
imited
opening)
of theDutch a-
bour market.
More
specifically, by examining
where
rationality,
xaggeration
and
opportunism
meet
in
the
perception
f
this
particularmigration
flow
as a cause
for
contemporary
moral
panic,
I
hope
to
identify
mplications
or
boundary-draw-
ing.
I
will order he various
relevant vents which
occurred
during
the five-month
period
ranging
from
September
003
until
February
004,
where-
in the Dutch
decision-making rocess
ontheissue
of freemovement
f labour eatured
n
political
and
public
debates
n Parliament nd media
by
means
of
a
narrative. arratives re
detailed ase
study
de-
scriptions
which are used as
methodological
re-
search ools across
he wide
array
f social
and
pol-
icy
sciences. Reservations
oncerning
ase narra-
tives
commonly
elate o issues of
transferability
f
research results.
However,
since
generalizing
knowledge
s not
always
a
socially
useful
activity,
the
strength
f
any
case
study,
which of
necessity
incorporates narrativelement, s to be foundnot
in
the
general
but
in
the detail
(Flyvbjerg,
2001).
Hence,
hemain
goal
of
narrative
s to exhibit ather
than
to
demonstrate
Czarniawska,
1998).
The
quality
of this exhibition s enhanced
whenthere s
a
sharpeye
for
detail:
'in
narrative,
he
perceived
coherence
of
the
sequel
(temporal
rder)
of
events
rather han he truth
or
falsity
of
story
elements
de-
termines he
plot
and hus he
power
of thenarrative
as
a
story'
Czarniawska,
998,
p.
5).3
Precisely
his
strictadherence
o
chronology
n
a good narratives quitein accordancewith case
descriptions
f moral
panics
ound n
literature
cf.
Cohen, 1972;
Thompson,
1998; Critcher,
2003).
Moreover,
he
emergence
and
fading
away
of a so-
cial
anxiety,
would
say,
are 'bestunderstood ar-
ratively'
Flyvbjerg,
2001,
p.
137).
Narratives n-
able
the researchero drawconclusions
on the ex-
istence
of
folk
devils,
moral
entrepreneurs
ndoth-
er actorson
stage,
as
well as
on the
articulation f
moral boundaries
nto
spatial
ones. Critcherde-
scribes
the
natural
connectionbetween narrative
and
moral
panics
as follows:
We
do not
have to
apply
formal theories of
narrative
.. to note that most moral panics tail
off
when
Something
Has
Been Done
-
or,
more
accurately,
when
Something
Has
Been
Seen
To Be Done.
If
what we have
here is a
kindof
moral
able,
n
which
retributions
ex-
actedupon heperpetratorsf evil, thenmoral
panics
can be deconstructed
s
narratives.
(Critcher,
003,
p.
141)
Below,
I
attempt
o
produce
such
a
moral
panics
narrative,
drawing
on
parliamentary
ocumenta-
tion,
newspaper
coverage
(news,
backgrounds,
comments),
elevision
andradiobroadcasts
news,
interviews,
documentaries)
s well
as electronic
sources.
An 'alert' Member
of
Parliament
According
o
Critcher,
key triggering
vent
'may
be found
n the middle
rather
han
at the
beginning
of
a moral
panic
narrative'
Critcher,
2003).
I
would
say
thatthe
panic
about
potential
mass
im-
migration
rom new
memberstates after
EU
en-
largement
was launched
by
a Member
of Parlia-
ment
(MoP)
from the
Liberal
Conservative
arty.
When
preparing
or the
parliamentary
ebateover
the
ratification
of the Athens
Treaty,
the
MoP
comes across
the fact that
contrary
o most other
EU member tatesat that ime(summer2003),the
Netherlands ad
not
yet
takena decision
about
a-
bourmarket
ccessfor
this
group
of
immigrants.
n
an
interview
he recalls:
I
had
just
been
appointed
Member
of Parlia-
ment,
assembled
all document
material,
and
foundout that
parliament
ever
really
had
dis-
cussed
properly
about he admittance
f
East-
ern
European mmigrants.
Every aspect
[of
the
Treaty
of
Athens]
had been discussed
and
negotiated,but not this one.4
(Wynia
(2003), Quoted
in
Weekblad
Elsevier,
15
November)
Soon
after,
on
24
September,
he
MoP
participates
in
a debate
n
the DutchLowerChamber
Tweede
Kamer),
which is
about
an amendment f the
so-
called 'Law
on Alien Labour'
oncerning
he
re-
cruitment
f labour rom
states
outside
he
Europe-
an
FreeTrade
Area
(EFTA).
During
he
discussion,
he
points
to the fact that
the
previous
Dutch
gov-
ernmenthad
been
basing
its decision not to close
thelabourmarket or
immigrant
workers romnew
member
tates
on a
reportpublished
n
2001
by
the
Socio-economic
Council,
an
influential
advisory
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ROOSPIJPERS
body
to the
government.5
At that time the Dutch
economy
was still
booming,
and
the
report explic-
itly
assumed these
favourable circumstances to
persist.
In
the course
of the
debate,
the
MoP
intro-
duces the following motion:
The
Chamber,
having
taken notice of the de-
bate,
considering,
that as a
consequence
of the
economic
slowdown
unemployment
in the
Netherlands
is
increasing,
that after accession
of 10 new
member
states into the
European
Union a further
distortion of the labour market
can be
feared caused
by
an inflow of
relatively
cheap
labourers,
that the accession
treaty
leaves
open
the
possibility
for the
[present]
member
states
not to
open
the labour market
for these workers
for a
period
of
up
to 7
years,
calls
upon
the
government
to,
if
necessary,
take measures
in
time
by maintaining
or ac-
complishing
a
general policy
measure based
on the Law on
Alien Labour to
keep
the
Dutch
labour
markets closed
to
employees
from
the
new member
states,
for the time
being.
(Official
parliamentary
documentation
at
http://
parlando.sdu.nl,
24
September,
2003)
The
motion is
directed to the
Deputy
Minister of
Social Affairs andEmployment, who is responsible
for
Dutch labour market
policy.
Although
the
Dep-
uty
Minister is
not
completely
convinced of the
im-
portance
of
the
arguments brought
forward
by
the
MoP,
he admits
that
up-to-date
information about
the
numbers
of
migrants
to
be
expected
after EU
enlargement
is
lacking,
as well as
knowledge
about
the
positions
of other Western
European
countries
besides
Germany
and Austria. He therefore
prom-
ises Parliament to come
up
with a
memorandum on
the
advantages
and
disadvantages
of
issuing
free
movement to labourimmigrantsfrom new member
states.
Apart
from labour
market
closure,
he
will
also
consider
the
possibility
of
holding
on
to the re-
quirement
of
work
permits
after
enlargement.
This
memorandum is
due
by
the end of the
year
(http://
parlando.sdu.nl,
24
September,
2003).
Spreading
the word
After
a month of
relative
silence,
the
issue is
picked
up
by
several
other Members
of
Parliament on
both
sides
of
the
political
spectrum.
The
immediate
cause for this is the
appearance
of the
Deputy
Min-
ister
of
Social
Affairs
and
Employment
in
NOVA,
a
daily
current affairs television
programme,
on
28
October.
During
the
broadcast,
the
expectation
is
voiced
that 30
000 labour
immigrants
will
be com-
ing
from
Poland
only.
In
response
to
this,
the
Dep-
uty
Minister
declares
that
'these are
no
numbers to
be worried about' (NOVAbroadcast, 28 October,
2003).
Two
days
later,
two MoPs
of the Christian
Democrat
Party express
their concern
over this
statement,
as
they
doubt the
absorption
capacity
of
the Dutch
labour market for
such a
high
number of
immigrant
workers.
They
demand to
be
told, first,
the effects
of these
expected
developments
for do-
mestic
workers,
the low-skilled
in
particular;
sec-
ond,
an
estimation
of numbers of
legal
and
illegal
Eastern
European employees
currently
working
in
the
Netherlands;
and
third,
how
many
of
these
peo-
ple
are
in
possession
of
a German
passport,
allow-
ing
them free
entrance on to the
Dutch labourmar-
ket
already (http://parlando.sdu.nl,
6
November,
2003).
That same
week,
the
conservative
MoP
who
may
by
now
be considered to be the
instigator
of the dis-
cussion,
increases
his
pressure
on the
Deputy
Min-
ister
by
officially asking
him
to
clarify
his
expec-
tations
on
the inflow of seasonal workers
following
EU
enlargement.
This
question
is based
on
an arti-
cle
in
the
Agrarian Newspaper,
reporting
the
build-
ing
of
hundreds of extra
housing
facilities
for em-
ployees from new member states by anumber of ru-
ral
municipalities
(Agrarisch Dagblad,
30
October,
2003).
The MoP demands the
Deputy
Minister to
examine
unemployment
rates
and labour
supply
in
the
region
in
question,
and whether
the
initiative
taken
by
these
municipalities
is
in
accordance
with
official
Dutch
housing policy
(http://parlan-
do.sdu.nl,
5
November,
2003).
In
addition,
he re-
peats
his
earlier demand to overrule
the
liberal
stance
of
open
borders
taken
by
the
previous
gov-
ernment.
The
Deputy
Minister
responds
that
he is
working on the memorandum which will cover all
the
questions
asked
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
6 No-
vember,
2003).
On 19
November,
the
Lower
Chamber
again
dis-
cusses
the ratification of the
Treaty
of Athens.
Al-
though
the
topic
of free movement of
labour
is but
one of the
many topics
on the
agenda
in the after-
noon
and
evening
of the
day
on
which this
much en-
compassing
debate
takes
place,
it turns
out to
be the
most controversial
one. Pim
Fortuyn's
Party6 oins
the Liberal Conservatives and the Christian
Demo-
crats in their wish
that,
due to the
already
disadvan-
tageous
and
worsening
economic situation in the
Netherlands,
and due
to the fact
that several
neigh-
bouring
member states have
already
decided
to
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NARRATING A
CONTEMPORARY
MORAL
PANIC
close their
borders,
the
Dutch
position
should not
be reconsidered. The
left-wing
Labour
Party,
Dem-
ocrat
Party
and
the Green
Party oppose
this rather
firmly, evaluating
such
reconsideration as
'being
not very decent' and 'breaking a promise already
made'
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
19
November,
2003).
Nevertheless,
in case
expected
immigration
numbers
will
prove sufficiently
large
to be a cause
for
concern,
all
parties
declare to
put
aside their
ob-
jections.
The far
left-wing
Socialist
Party
and the
conservative Christian
Parties
share this view.
Enter the media
Although
the
heated
discussion does
not
bring
the
actual decision
any
closer,
since all
the
political
parties prefer
to
await the memorandum
prepared
by
the
Deputy
Minister
of
Social Affairs
and Un-
employment,
it causes a storm
of
media
attention,
particularly
in
the various national
newspapers.
In
the
days
after the
debate,
several
MoPs are
quoted
repeatedly,
most
notably
the Liberal
Conservative
MoP,7
who fears that 'the Netherlands
will
become
the lowest drain
on
the
European
labour
market'
8
if
borders are
kept
open
(quoted
in De
Volkskrant
on
20
November,
and
in
Dagblad
Trouw
on 22 No-
vember,
2003).
The
spokesman
for
the Labour Par-
ty and the spokeswoman for the Democrat Partyin
turn
accuse the
right-wing parties outright
of
'arousing
negative
sentiments' outside of Parlia-
ment in
appearances
to the
general public
(De
Volk-
skrant,
20
November,
2003).
More
specifically,
they
are
referring
to the visit of the
Dutch
Minister
of
Finance
to a conference of his Conservative Par-
ty. During
this conference he declares himself to be
'against
cheap
Poles',
as
the
headlines
of
an article
covering
the conference reveal
(NRC
Handelsblad,
18
November,
2003).
The Minister
says:
In
case
Germany,
for
instance,
decides to tem-
porarily
close its labour market for Polish
em-
ployees, they
will flow
to the Netherlands. We
should not want that.'
(Quoted
inNRCHandelsblad,
18
November,
2003)
More
important
even than the
supposedly
provoca-
tive words uttered
by
the Minister of
Finance,
both
spokespersons
are
tempted
to draw
the conclusion
that the
free
movement issue has been discussed and
perhaps
even decided
upon by
members of the ad-
ministration
already,
albeit behind closed doors.
They
are
suspicious
of a hidden
agenda
in favour of
closing
the labour
market,
in
imitation
of
Germany,
Austria
and other countries
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
19
November,
2003).
During
the
debate,
however,
the accusation
is denied
by
his
fellow
party
mem-
bers. In the
aftermath,
the Democrat
Minister
of
Economic Affairs relaxes the 'hidden agenda' the-
ory,
since he turs out to
be a fierce advocate of
free
movement
(De
Volkskrant,
6
November,
2003).
In
fact this is not all
that
surprising,
since
the Minister
of
Economic
Affairs is
generally
known to take
pro-
European
standpoints.
The discussion
in Parliament
between,
most
notably,
the
Liberal
Conservatives,
the Christian
Democrats and
Pim
Fortuyn's
Party
on
the
one
hand,
and
the
Democrats,
the
Labour
Party
and
the Green
Party
on the other manifests
itself
within the
government
between the
Minister
of Fi-
nance
and
the Minister
of
Economic
Affairs.
Contrasting opinions
With deadlock
between two
powerful
members of
government
thus
reached,
the
last
two
weeks of
No-
vember
and the first two of December
witness the
rise of the
public's
voice
in
the media.
Whereas me-
dia
coverage up
until
now
consisted
mainly
of
re-
ports
of
debates
in
Parliament
and
relatively
short
news
flashes,
comments
on the issue of labour
im-
migration
from
new member states
may
be
found
increasingly in opinion sections, columns and
background
articles.
A
telling example appears,
for
instance,
in
NRC Handelsblad
on 21
November,
when an
anonymous
reader
argues
that the fear
of
Eastern
European
immigrant
workers
stealing
jobs
from
domestic workers
is
completely
out of
place.
S/he
points
at the fact that seasonal
migration
from
accession
countries,
mainly
from
Poland,
has
been
a common
phenomenon
in
the Netherlands
in
the
last
decade
and a
half,
and
to 'mutual
satisfaction
of
employers
as
well
as
employees':
Employers
are
happy
because
Poles
work
hard,
don't
complain
and
hardly
fall ill.
With
an old-fashioned work-ethic
they
pluck
ger-
beras,
prune
tomatoes or cultivate
asparagus
in Brabant and
Limburg9
in
spring.
Finding
Dutch
employees
for these
jobs,
which
are
known to be
quite
harsh
has
been
impossible
for
many years
now.
(Quoted
in
NRCHandelsblad,
21
November,
2003)
Subsequently,
the reader
argues
for
combating
il-
legal
immigration
rather han
excluding
legal
work-
ers.
Although
his or
her
background
is
unknown,
it
would
seem that
s/he has a
substantial
amount of
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background knowledge
on
the
subject.
In
general,
public
comments about
the
issuance of free move-
ment to labour
immigrants
from new member
states come
from
people
who
may
be
regarded
as
experts in the field. Among them, for instance, a
professor
of
public
finance,
who
expresses
his
con-
cern over the
competitive
position
of
domestic low-
rated workers
when
the labour market is
opened.
He also
emphasizes
a
potential
increase
in
govern-
ment
expenditure
on social
security following
en-
largement
(Verbon,
n Het
Financieele
Dagblad,
21
November,
2003).
The
professor's
concerns are
contradicted
by
MoP's
from
the Labour
Party
who
accuse him of
'elementary
school
calculating'
(Het
Financieele
Dagblad,
10
December,
2003).
Obvi-
ously
irritated
by
these
words,
the
professor
in
turn
accuses
the
Labour
Party
of
engaging
in
'ostrich
policy'
(Het
Financieele
Dagblad,
19
December,
2003).
This is
an
illustrative
example
of
political-
public
interaction
in
the media.
From
29
November until 13
December,
the re-
gional
newspaper
Limburgs
Dagblad publishes
a se-
ries
of
articles aboutPolish
immigrant
workers n
the
Netherlands and
Germany,
and more
specifically
in
the
province
of
Limburg.
In
eight background
arti-
cles,
a
wide
range
of
related
topics
is
covered,
rang-
ing
from
the existence
of
'malafide' labour
market
intermediaries taking advantage of immigrants to
the
negative
consequences
of
young
men and wom-
en
draining
away
from Polish
villages.
Although
the
series
provides
a
realistic and
by
no means
over-
dramatized view
of
the
issue,
the
objective
reader
cannot but conclude from it that
there
are
indeed
many immigrants
to be
expected
after EU
enlarge-
ment. One of the articles
is
dedicated
to German
Poles from areas
in
southern Poland
which,
prior
to
the Second World
War,
belonged
to
Germany,
who,
still
having
German
passports,
will be
able to
freely
enter the Dutch labour marketregardlessof the de-
cision of the
Dutch
government.
Most of
the
many
Poles
in
possession
of German
passports
are,
ac-
cording
to
the
article,
quite willing
and indeed
pre-
paring
to
migrate
after
enlargement.
Similar
conclu-
sions are
drawn
by
the writers of anotherseries of
ar-
ticles
in
Het Financieele
Dagblad
entitled 'The
neighbours
are
coming'.
Apart
from
sharing
the
con-
cern
over
Poles
with
German
passports being
mis-
used
by
illegally operating
labour market
interme-
diaries
(6 December),
they
call
in
the
expertise
of a
migration professor
(28
November
and 10 Decem-
ber),
several economists
(28
November)
and the
president
of the
largest
labour union in
the Nether-
lands
(16
December).
Producing
factual
evidence
Determined
to come
up
with
a well-informed
policy
decision,
the
Deputy
Minister
of Social
Affairs and
Employment asks a renowned government-affiliat-
ed research
bureau
to
conduct an
in-depth
study
into
the
advantages
and
disadvantages
of
admitting
la-
bour
from new member states. This Netherlands
Bu-
reau for Economic
Policy Analysis
delivers the main
'ingredient'
or the
Deputy
Minister's memorandum
on
14
January,
2004.
In a
brief
though
detailed re-
port,
the
bureau concludes
that
in
spite
of other
member states'
decisions to
temporarily
shut down
the labour
market,
a
relatively
small
number of
im-
migrant
workers from new member states
may
be
expected
after
enlargement. Drawing
on an
analysis
of several scientific
migration
forecasts,
the
bureau
estimates an
additional inflow of between 3500 and
8500
immigrant
workers
(De
Mooij
et
al.,
2004).
This
range
does not include seasonal
migration.
Moreover,
the
majority
of these
immigrants
are like-
ly
to fulfil still
existing
job
vacancies in the bottom
segment
of
the labour market.
In that
case,
no sub-
stantial 'harm'
will
be done to the Dutch
welfare
state
(De
Mooij
et
al.,
2004).
For
the
Liberal Conservative
Party,
the
report
is
convincing
enough
to
let
go
of the demand
to close
the Dutch labour market. Their spokesman says
that numbers
'look
good'
(De
Volkskrant,
15 Janu-
ary,
2004).
The Minister of Finance
however,
also
a
Liberal
Conservative,
still holds on to
his
prefer-
ence
of
closing
the labour
market. The
same
is
true
for
the Christian Democrats and
Pim
Fortuyn's
Par-
ty,
who seem to be determined not to issue free
movement
regardless
of the
report
and the
forth-
coming
decision
of the
Deputy
Minister of Social
Affairs
and
Employment
(De
Volkskrant,
15 Janu-
ary,
2004).
In a
thirty-page
letter
published
on
23
January,almost a month later than initially fore-
seen,
the
Deputy
Minister informs Parliament
about this
decision,
which turns out to
be a
com-
promise
between
opposing
parties.
Instead
of
fully
opening
or
closing
the
Dutch
labour market on
1
May,
a limited number
of 22
000
immigrants
will
be allowed access
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
23 Janu-
ary,
2004).
This
figure
is
based
on the estimate
made
by
the
bureau,
complemented
with
numbers
of
seasonal
migration.
In
case more than
22
000
people
enter,
the labour market will
be
closed. The
letter
explicitly
states that
caution
is in order:
In
this
respect,
it is
important
to
keep
in mind
that,
as the Netherlands Bureau for
Economic
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Policy
Analysis
annotates,
the estimations
are
surrounded
with
insecurities.
This
insecurity
about
the actual
number
of labour
migrants
contains
a risk
that
gains
weight
when
unem-
ployment in the Netherlands rises.
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
23
January,
2004)
For this
reason,
the
government
leaves
open
the
possibility
to take
further
restricting
measures
if
real
numbers of
migrants
following
EU
enlarge-
ment indicate the
necessity
to do so.
Asked about
his reaction to the
letter,
the
Dutch
Prime Minister
firmly
replies:
We do
acknowledge
free movement of
per-
sons,
but we will
not overlook
the effects
for
our labour
market.
(Quoted
in
De
Volkskrant,
23
January,
2004).
Herewith,
one would
expect
the
issue
to be
'dealt
with'. To the
surprise
of
many,
however,
not least the
Deputy
Minister of Social
Affairs and
Employment,
the last words
have
not
all
been voiced. When
dis-
cussing
the
letter
in Parliament on 3
February,
the
majority
of
parties
(the
Liberal
Conservatives,
the
Christian
Democrats,
Pim
Fortuyn's
Party
and the
Socialist
Party)
evaluate
the
proposed
limit as not
being strictenough. Still convinced of a greatermi-
gration
threat than
forecast
by
the Netherlands
Bu-
reau
for Economic
Policy Analysis,
these
parties
in-
troduce no
less than
five
motions
in
the course
of the
debate,
either
highlighting
a
specific aspect
of the
free
movement
issue
or
proposing
an alternative
so-
lution
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
3
February,
2004).
There
is,
for
instance,
a demand that official
require-
ments for
receiving
a work
permit
for
immigrant
workers
from new EU countries be as
strict as those
for non-EU
(and
non-EFTA)
employees.
Another
motion questions the migrants' ability to integrate
into Dutch
society,
and
consequently
asks that
they
become
acquainted
with Dutch
language
and culture
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
February,
2004).
The
argu-
ment
proposed
by
the
spokesman
of
Pim
Fortuyn's
Party
is
particularly
ively,
since it refers to the
am-
bivalent
relationship
between
the Dutch and water:
Driven
by
a dead-end situation
in
their home
country
and
hoping
to
receive a
royal
income
here,
workers
will
massively
go
westward. It
is like
water,
always flowing
to the lowest
point.
Coincidentally,
the
Netherlands
is the
lowest
country
in
Europe,
which means that
we
need
to be
prepared.
If
the flow turns
out
to
be
high
tide,
we will
be too
late,
because
we
failed
to take
appropriate
measures
by
digging
a canal
and
building
dikes.
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
3
February,
2004)
Upon
receiving
so
much
criticism,
the
Deputy
Min-
ister
of Social
Affairs and
Employment
promises
to
discuss
the issue
within the
government
once
again.
A
climax
at last
After almost
five months
of
intense,
sometimes
heated debates
and
discussions
in
parliament
and
the various
media,
the 'fear
of mass
migration'
nar-
rative reaches
its
climax
when the
government
de-
cides
upon
a final
solution
on 13
February,
2004.
In
a
second,
much
shorter
letter to
Parliament,
the
Deputy
Minister
announces
that
instead of
install-
ing
the
22 000
maximum,
migrants
from new
mem-
ber states
will be
granted
access
to
only
a
very
small
number of
jobs
in
designated
sectors
of the
econo-
my (http://parlando.sdu.nl,
13
February,
2004).
In
these
sectors,
labour
shortages
should
be
perceived
as
structural
and
not
likely
to be
fulfilled
by
Dutch
workers
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,
13
February
and
De
Volkskrant,
14
February,
2004).10
The
majority
of
sectors
will be
closed
until
2006
however.
Hav-
ing achieved this result, the demanding political
parties clearly
emerge
as
overall winners
of
the de-
bate. The most
important opposing
actors,
the
Democrat
Party
and the labour
union,
declare
they
are
very disappointed.
They question
the
feasibility
of the
proposed
measures,
especially
with
regard
to
the
drawing up
a shortlist of
'open'
sectors
to be
adapted
and
updated
according
to
the needs
of the
moment
(De
Volkskrant,
14
February
and
Dagblad
Trouw,
14
February,
2004).
However,
the
govern-
ment continues
to
explicitly keep
open
the
possi-
bility to further restrict free movement in case ei-
ther the number
of
immigrants
coming
exceeds
ex-
pectations,
or the
enlargement process
of the
Euro-
pean
Union
enters
a new
stage.
By
the
time the
Dutch decision
is
finally
through, yet
another
immigration-related
issue has
taken over
the media headlines
and
political
and
public
debate.
The Minister
of Alien Affairs
and
In-
tegration
launches
a
highly
controversial
proposal
to
expel
26000
rejected
asylum-seekers.
Heavy
protests
arise from
immigration
interest
groups
as
well as
local
policy-makers,
designated
to
put
these
harsh measures into
practice.
This
protest
is fuelled
by
the
media,
eagerly portraying many
individual
asylum-seekers,
which causes the
issue
to com-
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Table 2. The 'fear of mass
migration'
narrative
in
headlines.
Stage/event Principal
characteristics
and/or actors
Emergence
Claims
making
Elite consensus and
concern
Media
inventory
Expert
involvement
Coping
and
resolution
Fade
away
Legacy
A MoP from
the Liberal
Conservative
Party
introduces a motion in
Parliament's Lower Chamber.
The Liberal Conservatives
(most
notably
the Minister of
Finance),
the Christian
Democrats,
Pim
Fortuyn's
Party
and the Socialist
Party
claim a threat
to the labour
market,
the welfare state and Dutch cultural
iden-
tity.
All
political parties agree
to await a
clarifying report
to be
prepared by
the
Deputy
Minister of Social Af-
fairs and
Employment.
The
Minister of Economic Affairs holds on
firmly
to free movement
throughout
the debate.
Numerous stories
appear
in
newspapers
and on
television,
the radio and the
Internet,
covering
news and
backgrounds.
Some
experts
in the
field
express
concern over the
immigrants'
influence on
the Dutch welfare
state.
Oth-
ers relax this
influence
by pointing
to the
need of labour
migration
in
ill-functioning
labour market sectors.
In
spite
of a
comforting
risk assessment
study,
the
government
decides to
introduce a
limit
to
the
number
of
migrants
to
be allowed
access;
upon protests,
it restricts labour
market access
altogether
with the
excep-
tion of a very small number of jobs in appointed sectors.
Controversy
over 26 000
asylum-seekers
to be
expelled overpowers
fear of mass
migration.
Immediate
consequences
will
become known in the
period following
EU
enlargement. Long-term
legacy
is
expected
to become manifest in
discussions
about the EU's future
geopolitical expansion.
Source: 'events'
drawn from Critcher's
extended model of
moral
panics
(2003,
pp.
151-153).
pletely
overpower
fear of mass
migration
from
new
member
states.
In
NOVA,
the
Minister of
Alien
Af-
fairs
herself
speaks
of a true
'media
hype'
(NOVA
broadcast,
3
February,
2004).
On 11
February,
nev-
ertheless, NRC Handelsblad opens with the head-
ing
'Inhospitable
Europe
makes Poles
feel
bitter',
introducing
a
story
about
feelings
of
unpleasant
surprise
and
resentment
among
policy-makers
and
citizens
in
Poland as an
immediate reaction
to the
decision of so
many
member states
to
impose
tran-
sitional
periods
on free
movement of
labour.
Boundary-drawing hrough politics
of
fear
A
recapitulation
in main
findings
The narrativeshows that claims-making activities
by politicians
in
Parliament,
opinion-makers
and
experts
in
the fields
of
migration
and
labour
mar-
kets
have been both
frequent
and intense. In
gener-
al,
one could
certainly
conclude
that elite
actors
rather han the
voxpopuli
have
shaped political
and
public
debates over the free
movement issue in
the
Netherlands.
Newspaper
coverage
and
television
broadcasts
were
brought
by 'upper-class'
media
in
the form
of
opinion
sections,
article
series,
discus-
sion
programmes
and
documentaries.
Far-reaching
stereotyping
and
exaggeration
was
not
found,
with
the
exception
of some
provocative
headlines
('Help
The Poles are
coming',
'Polish
hordes')
and
denigrating quotes
('Cheap
Poles',
'Eastern
European drooping
moustaches').
Moreover,
sup-
port
for
immigrants
from new member states
was
expressed
both
by politicians
and other
contribu-
tors to the
discussion,
although
an
apparent
need
for risk assessment, carried out by the Netherlands
Bureau for Economic
Policy Analysis
accordingly,
was
widely
felt. The narrative faded
away
follow-
ing
the final introduction of
transitional
arrange-
ments and
through
the
upsurge
of other social anx-
ieties
(for
an overview see
Table
2).
On
(ir)rationality
and
opportunism
Fear of mass
migration
in
Parliamentand the media
was about the
potential ousting
from the labourmar-
ket of domestic workersby immigrantworkers from
new member states.At first
then,
the
resulting
labour
market shut-down would seem a
straightforward
e-
action to the fact that almost
all of the otherEU mem-
ber
states restrict free movement and decided to do
so well
before the Dutch
government.
Indeed,
con-
cerns about the labour market and
the
welfare state
are
not all
morally
flawed
regarding
he current
prob-
lematic circumstances
in
both
of these
'segments'
of
Dutch
society.
Yet what most labour market
experts
agree
upon
is that
immigration might
(and
in
many
cases
already
does)
alleviate structural abour short-
ages
into
more sectors of Western
European
econo-
mies than the
only
very
few
which
are
currently
opened
up
for
job competition
in the Netherlands.
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PANIC
Workersfrom Poland
and other accession countries
have
been
contributing
to
the
Dutch
economy
in
many
ways
for
many years;
on the
asparagus
and
strawberry
fields,
at
construction
sites,
and
in
the
packaging industry. Transferringresponsibility for
the
ill-functioning
of
these
sectors
(in
terms
of find-
ing
motivated
employees)
on
to labour
immigrants
constitutes
political
opportunism
in
favour
of eco-
nomic
protection
of
domestic workers.
The
surpris-
ingly
easy way
in which the otherwise
comforting
re-
sults
yielded by
the bureau's
risk
calculation
were
bypassed
once
more
exposes
the
intrinsic
ambiva-
lence of
spatial
morality:
freedom of labour
should
be
fundamental to EU
citizenship
but it
should
not
pose
a threatto
an
even more fundamental
'right'
to
retain
accumulated
wealth
within national borders
(Van
Houtum and Van
Naerssen,
2002).
In their
classic
definition,
moral
panics
are con-
sidered
of
limited
duration,
as
they 'heighten
bound-
ary
consciousness
but...
are,
by
definition,
episodic.
Fears
die
down and
people
subsequently
rub
along
with each other'
(Sibley,
1995,
p.
39).
This
may
be
because
society
and
more
particularly
the
panic-in-
stigating
actors
on
stage
consider
policy
measures
undertaken to be
appropriate
or sufficient.
In
addi-
tion,
and also
applying
here,
new
threats
may
emerge, posing
another
or
a
greater
challenge
to
boundariesof moralityandidentity.Whereasthelat-
ter reason
clearly
reflects the
contingency
of con-
temporary
moral
panics
over
immigration
and mi-
nority
integration,
the issue of recurrence seems
highly
relevant
as
well. As was
agreed
in the
course
towards
enlargement,
restricting
countries such as
the
Netherlands are
obliged
to review the
free
move-
ment theme
in
the
spring
of
2006,
with the extension
of transitional
periods
as
a
possible
and
perhaps
ike-
ly
outcome.
For,
capitalizing
on the
economic
risk of
low-skilled domestic
workers,
indeed one
of socie-
ty's most vulnerablegroups,claims-makers such as
those identified in this narrative
are
sure to celebrate
once
again
the
argument
that
open
borders
lead,
phrased tellingly
by
Erik
Snel,
'to
uncontrollable
consequences,
to
overstretch
threatening
our
socie-
ty's
character'
(Snel,
2003,
p.
15).
Conclusion
Although
limited
in
its
scope,
the case
study
narra-
tive elaborated in this article
supports
the view that
political decision-making
with
regard
to sensitive
migration
issues is
grounded
in and caused
by
fears
of
becoming
'flooded'
by
mobilities of
an
uncertain
size
and
impact.
Notwithstanding
the
temporary
na-
ture
of
the
transitional
arrangements
currently
im-
posed,
since
free
movement
of labour
will eventual-
ly
be
issued
to inhabitants
of new
member states
at
some
point
in
the
(nearby)
future,
attention
s drawn
to EU-enlargement rounds still to come. Starting
with
the
striven-for accession
of
Bulgaria
and
Ro-
mania
in
2007,
the
question
arises whether
migra-
tion
fears
in
member states
will co-determine
where
the
geopolitical
expansion
of
the
European
Union
ends. Recent
progress
in accession
negotiations
with
by
far the most
controversial
candidate member
state,
Turkey,
instantly
caused rumours
of massive
flows
of
Turks
to
be
expected.
Boundary-drawing
n
the
European
Union is
ongoing,
as are
the efforts
to
keep
out labour
immigrants.
With
the
exception
of a
few who
are directed towards
clearly specified
sec-
tors in orderto fulfil well-demarcated
jobs,
most are
denied access
as
politically
undesired
strangers
and
folk
devils
in
spite
of their sometimes
obvious
mar-
ket
desirability.
Images
of
moral overstretch
in the
reporting
media
feed and will continue
to feed
this
politics
of fear and
therewith
reinforce the
perceived
need for
boundary-drawing.
By way
of a
conclusion,
this
suggests
that fear of
(mass)
migration
from
new
member
states
is rooted
in a
complex
interplay
of
(ir)rationality
and
political opportunism,
which
oth-
erwise remains
open
for
furtherdeconstruction.
Acknowledgements
I would
like
to
express
my
thanks
to Frans
Boekema,
Martin
van
der
Velde,
Henk van Houtum
and three
anonymous peer
reviewers
for
critically reading
and
constructively
commenting upon
an
earlier
version
of this article.
This
previous
version was
presented
at the NETHUR School
'Discourse
Analysis
in the
Social
Sciences:
Theories
and
Methods',
at
Utrecht
University,
the
Netherlands,
on
19
May,
2004.
Roos
Pijpers
Department
of
Human
Geography
and
Nijmegen
Centre
for
Border
Research
Radboud
University Nijmegen
The
Netherlands
Contact
information:
Radboud
University Nijmegen
Nijmegen
School
of
Management
Thomas van
Aquinostraat
3.2.24
P.O. Box
9108
6500 HK
Nijmegen
The
Netherlands
E-mail:
Geografiska
Annaler
?
88
B
(2006)
?
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ROOS PIJPERS
Notes
1. Provocative