Branding Rights
The position of political cartoons in the securitisation of population groups in a democracy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.32.4Keywords:
securitisation, democracy, social construction, political cartoons, democratic rights, plural societyAbstract
Extending on notions of securitisation and how it challenges democracy, this paper uses Marshall McLuhan’s tetrad of media effects within a social constructivist paradigm, to engage in an intertextual and intervisual analysis of political cartoons in Denmark. In doing so this paper illustrates how and why particular community groups within democracies can be targeted in ‘speech acts’ that subsequently pushes them into becoming securitised as possible threat groups within the democracy. The securitisation that takes place in democracies through these identified and analysed ‘speech acts’ embedded in political images are deconstructive features to promoting democratic rights, and must be understood and addressed at a structural level to instead promote desecuritisation.