'We Demand Our Rights': Discursive and Political Effects of Mobilisation of Asylum Seekers in Austria

Since the summer of 2012 asylum seekers have been involved in struggles organising protest camps in many European cities. In Amsterdam, Berlin and Budapest there have been protests in front of national parliaments, as well as protest camps and occupations. Currently, one of the largest protests of asylum seekers in Europe takes place in Austria. The protests of the asylum seekers started in November 2012 with the protest march to Vienna. Once in Vienna, a protest camp was set up in the city centre. In a next step asylum seekers sought refuge in the Votiv Church. Soon thereafter they entered into hunger strike. In this paper I am going to discuss what these movements have achieved so far, what are the outcomes of this new wave of mobilization? My case study will be the movement of asylum seekers in Austria. Till now in the public and political debates in Austria, asylum seekers are framed as “unwanted” persons who misuse the legal system without having the possibility of raising their voices. What happens when the self-organised asylum seekers speak in their names and makes an attempt to challenge the dominant logics of representation by others? First I am going to analyse the strategies of the protest as a movement from the “periphery” into the “centre” with references to their demands. For analysing the political effects second I am going to look how the political elites react to the demands of the refugees and whether there has been a shift in the discursive strategies of these actors. Third I am going to analyse whether demands of the movements have been realised. The analysis of this social movement will show how political elites reply to a movement with consists of non-citizens with precarious status.