Representations of Climate Change Refugees in The Guardian and in The New York Times

Abstract

This article analyses the discursive strategies used by the online editions of two leading newspapers, The Guardian and The New York Times, when addressing the issue of climate change refugees from 2005 to 2018. Drawing upon the critical framework provided by the Discourse-Historical Approach, the article shows that certain key lexico-grammatical features in discourse are used by the two newspapers as instruments to contain climate change refugees as a socially subordinate group depending on the help coming from host countries, which have the power to institutionally control the refugees’ identity and legal status.