The Politicization of Immigration in Switzerland: Empirical Findings from Two Periods of Crisis

This contribution explores how political actors position themselves with respect to immigration and immigrant integration in periods of social and economic crisis. Employing a systematic analysis of claims (Van der Brug et al. 2015) which have appeared in four major Swiss newspapers during the Oil Crisis (1970s) and Financial Crisis (2000s/2010s), we assess the extent to which immigration-related issues have become more politicized (understood as more polarized and more salient) in comparison with times of normalcy. We also examine the changing nature of claims-makers, topics, and frames in this context and subject it to in-depth statistical analysis. Our findings confirm the assumption that the disruption caused by the above-mentioned crises has, indeed, a clearly discernible impact during both periods of examination. While there is not necessarily more politicization as such, we observe a diversification of claims-makers and a gradual shift from primarily instrumental to identity-oriented frames. It thus appears that crises provide valuable opportunity structures for those who consider issues like immigration relevant and look out for possibilities to exploit them discursively. We interpret these and further findings by drawing on the idea of a historical nexus between migration (the permanent movement from one place to another) and mobility (a series of contingent, short-term, and often circular moves). In this sense, the debates and claims of the 1970s can be regarded as an example of the former, whereas their recent counterparts already carry the imprint of a much more culturalized, globalized, and ambiguous modernity. Van der Brug, W., G. D’Amato, J. Berkhout & D. Ruedin (Eds.) (2015). The Politicisation of Migration. Abingdon: Routledge.