Covid-19, Sinophobia and Populism

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 1 - Göç ve Afet, 1 - 16, 09.10.2023

Buğra Kadir Koçer

Öz

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the whole world in a short period of time, has caused large-scale negative effects in social and cultural areaswith the crisis it has caused in the fields of health and economy. One of the main reasons for the negative effects is that many bans and quarantinemeasures implemented to control the pandemic brought social life almost to a standstill. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic already profoundlyaffected the social and cultural spheres due to the fear and panic caused by the rapid spread of the disease before the measures and practices taken and theefforts to control the pandemic were initially shaped by this fear and panic. This state of fear and panic has caused cases of xenophobia and discriminationto escalate. While the emergence of the disease in China led to the denigration of Chinese food culture and Chinese people directly, this denigration wasreplaced by discrimination, harassment, and stigmatization of Chinese and almost all people of East Asian origin as the disease spread. The media andpoliticians are among the other triggers of these incidents, which have also increased due to insufficient information about COVID-19 and the prejudices,rumors, and conspiracy theories that circulated rapidly as a result. Many media outlets have spread unconfirmed news, causing increased fear and panic, andtargeted China through the images and headlines they chose for their news content, paving the way for hate speech and discrimination incidents. A similarsituation is reflected in the discourse of many populist leaders, especially former US President Trump. Politicians who targeted China and various immigrantand minority groups rather than controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and healing the wounds of the resulting economic and social devastation madestatements that escalated xenophobia both in the public sphere and on social media. As a matter of fact, hate speech and discrimination against citizens andimmigrants of Chinese and East Asian origin, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic, have expanded to include various religious and ethnic minoritygroups over time.
In this study, the causes and consequences of sinophobia, which has been on the rise with the COVID-19 pandemic, will be discussed in various contexts,while its impact on the political sphere will be analyzed through populist discourses. The relationship between various news, rumors and conspiracy theoriescirculated during the pandemic, especially targeting people of Chinese and East Asian origin and hate speech that feeds sinophobia, will be examined byexamining the visual choices, news headlines and content in traditional media and social media. In this context, not only corporate media outlets but alsostudies that include the analysis of users who participate in discussions on social media and support or oppose hate speech are included in the subject ofexamination in terms of their relationship with sinophobia. These studies have made significant contributions in terms of showing that attitudes such asxenophobia and hate speech, which were found to have increased during the pandemic, were not supported by a large segment of society, contrary topopular belief, and that a certain number of social media users, who were already engaged in such attitudes before the pandemic, circulated these discoursesmore frequently and intensively. On the other hand, while much of the regular hate speech on social media is disseminated by specific and restricted users,many people of Chinese and East Asian descent who have been targeted during the Covid-19 pandemic have increasingly experienced discrimination,harassment and stigmatization in the public sphere. Sinophobic hate speech has manifested itself as discrimination, harassment, mobbing and stigmatizationagainst almost all East Asian groups in public spaces such as schools, workplaces or public transportation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only demonstrated the reach of xenophobia in the context of sinophobia, but has also reiterated the ethnic, religious andracial inequalities that existed before the pandemic. Numerous studies indicate that the pandemic has adversely impacted migrants and minoritycommunities across economic, social, and health domains. In addition to this negative impact, many right-wing populist and far-right groups have tried toblame the migrant and minority groups they targeted before the pandemic with various fake news and conspiracy theories, trying to show them as thereason why the pandemic could not be controlled and the pandemic continued to spread. In this sense, both populist politicians and anti-immigrantpopulist groups and the far-right have seen the rising xenophobia on the grounds of sinophobia as an opportunity for their own exclusionary populistpolicies and discourses.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Covid-19, Sinophobia, Populism, Xenophobia

COVID-19, Sinofobi ve Popülizm

Öz

COVID-19 pandemisi neredeyse tüm dünya genelinde neden olduğu panik ve korkunun yanında ekonomide, ulaşımda, sağlıkta ve sosyal alanlarda birçok sorunun ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. Birçok insan kendisini salgından korumaya çalışırken aynı zamanda farklı alanlarda ortaya çıkan bu yeni problemlerin yarattığı olumsuz etkilerle de mücadele etmek zorunda kalmıştır. Tüm bu sıkıntılara ek olarak koronavirüsün Çin merkezli olarak yayılması özellikle Batılı ülkelerde yaşayan başta Çin ve Doğu Asya kökenli göçmenlerin damgalanmasına yol açarak salgının nedenlerinden biri ve nefret söylemlerinin başlıca hedefi haline getirmiştir. Çin ve Doğu Asya kökenli göçmen gruplarına karşı oluşan nefret söylemleri ve yabancı düşmanlığı Covid-19 pandemisi öncesinde de dünyanın birçok farklı bölgesindeki siyasal alanlarda etkili hale gelmiş popülist hareketler ve aşırı-sağ gruplar eliyle hızla yayılarak genişlemiştir. Bu hareketler ve gruplar bir yandan özellikle sosyal medyadan olmak üzere sinofobik söylemleri yaygınlaştırırken bir yandan da pandeminin yol açtığı tüm sorunların nedeni olarak diğer etnik ve dini azınlık grupları da hedef almayı sürdürmüşlerdir. Bu çalışmada Covid-19 pandemisi sürecinde ortaya çıkan başta sinofobik tutumlar ve söylemlerin yanında diğer etnik ve dini azınlık gruplarına karşı yayılan nefret söylemleri ve yabancı düşmanlığı araştırılarak, bu tutum ve söylemlerin popülizm ile olan ilişkisi incelenecektir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Sinofobi, Popülizm, Yabancı Düşmanlğı, COVID19

Kaynakça

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