Performing identity: The Danish cartoon crisis and discourses of identity and security

The Danish cartoon crisis, which attracted international media attention in 2006, has largely been debated as an issue of freedom of speech, feeding into broader debates about the 'clash of civilizations'. This article aims to explore the dominant discourses that performed a seemingly stab...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSecurity dialogue Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 241 - 258
Main Author Agius, Christine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications Ltd 01.06.2013
SAGE Publications
Subjects
Animated
Cartoons
Civilization
Cultural Conflict
Cultural identity
Culture
Democracy
Denmark
Discourse
Domestic
Feeding
Foreign policy
Freedom of Speech
Identity
Identity theory
Immigration Policy
Muslims
National identity
Overseas
Parliamentarism
Political discourse
Political identity
Promotion
Security
Social integration
Terrorism
Threats
War
War on terror
security
performance
identity
Denmark
intervention
foreign policy
cartoon crisis
discourse
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Summary:The Danish cartoon crisis, which attracted international media attention in 2006, has largely been debated as an issue of freedom of speech, feeding into broader debates about the 'clash of civilizations'. This article aims to explore the dominant discourses that performed a seemingly stable and consistent Danish identity at the domestic and external levels. Domestically, the discourse of a progressive Danish identity under threat from unmodern others was performed via discourses of a 'culture struggle' and a restrictive immigration policy designed to keep intact a narrow definition of Danishness. Externally, Danish identity and security was performed and defended via participation in the 'war on terror', democracy promotion and overseas development assistance, which became tools that were not simply associated with security in the liberal sense but also contained a spatial dimension designed to keep consistent the image of the complete nation-state. By adopting a discursive approach, the article aims to explore the performance of Danish identity that animated the cartoon crisis in order to highlight the complexities and contestations that animate ideas of self.
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ISSN:0967-0106
1460-3640
DOI:10.1177/0967010613485871