Joseph Buckingham, School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science

'European and Welcome?' - Orientalism within the Western media coverage of Ukrainian refugees

It has been pointed out by many articles that the media has represented Ukrainian refugees in a much more positive light relative to how the media has typically represented refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. The former group of refugees have been described as 'European', 'like us', and 'civilised' and the later group, the opposite, echoing the arguments made in Edward Said's influential critique of Orientalism. This is of great importance, as the language used by the media does not simply reflect attitudes, but can reinforce attitudes as well as legitimise policy. The language used by the media therefore plays a role in the widely different treatment of Ukrainian refugees and Middle Easten/North Africa refugees, which has seen the unconditional welcoming of the former and the brutal securitisation of the later. Such language, and how it functions as a discourse, should be therefore be studied and critiqued, which is the focus of this presentation.

BA Philosophy & Sociology , Final Year (he/him)
Hi I'm Joe. I am very passionate about politics and human rights issues. I remember being amazed at the way Ukranian refugees were being unconditionally welcomed into the UK, given the poor treatment and xenophoic discourse that was so commonly heard regarding 'non-European' refugees. Of course, it is amazing seeing such positive treatment of refugees, and it shows what is possible. The issue I have is the selective solidarity. This motivated me to look into the role language played in this, hence this presentation.