Integration, Multiculturalism, National Identity: The Migration Debate in The Danish Media (1990s – 2010s)

The article analyzes the debate on migration policy, integration, and cultural and national identity in the Danish media during the 1990s–2010s. The relevance of the study is determined by the significance of this phenomenon for the current national migration policy. The purpose of the study is to examine trends in the public debate on migration and national identity, and to reveal a correlation between the mass media coverage and political development in the country over those decades. To achieve this goal, the study fulfills the following objectives: outlines the background of the issue; points out key directions in the debate; identifies the main viewpoints and traces their evolution during the debate; detects links between the debate and the political process, as well as its role in shaping subsequent political developments in the country. The work, based on a large corpus of Danish press and social media texts, employs the method of content analysis. The chosen chronological framework is justified by the fact that during this period the migration debate in Denmark became particularly dynamic and intense, leading to significant political and administrative changes. Thirty years of public debate have had an impact on both public opinion and national policies towards foreigners. The study revealed that over the course of three decades the migration debate evolved alongside changes in Denmark’s social and political life, with rhetoric gradually tightening. At the same time, within this context, migration legislation was steadily tightened. The stages of the debate’s development were identified, and the connection between key trigger events and changes in the nature and themes of the discussion were traced. Such events include phenomena of different orders: the expansion of migration flows, legislative initiatives in the sphere of migration policy, the emergence of new parties, terrorist attacks — all of which directly influenced the perception of migrants by the native population of the country. The study concludes that there is a mutual influence between public debate and political reality. Although migration had traditionally been a key issue for right-wing parties, the major beneficiary of the debate was the Social Democratic Party — which recognized the situation and chose the right moment to shift its policy.