CFE called him up in Germany to talk about his thesis.
Congratulations on winning the CFE award for best thesis with a European theme 2024! What are you up to right now?
– Thank you very much, it was quite unexpected. It was such great news. I am currently working at the Munich Security Conference as a project assistant.
You have written about how Ukrainian immigration is framed by mainstream right and far right political parties in Germany. Why did you choose this topic?
– Well, my fellow classmates and friends would say it is very predictable that I chose this topic. It combines my favorite academic topics, which are the social construction of migration and radical right politics and parties. I somehow found a way to make every assignment about migration and the construction of migration. So, it was very natural for me to combine those subjects in my thesis as well.
Let’s talk a bit about your method and choice of data. How was it to work with Youtube content?
– It is a bit of an underestimated platform, as I also mention in my thesis. It is not really a traditional social media. There are comments and exchanges, but it is more about consuming content. I found it quite interesting how huge the presence of the AfD is on Youtube, compared to the CDU and CSU. In 2024 by April, the AfD had about 110 million channel views, while CDU had maybe a few million.
– The good thing about Youtube is that I can use this AI tool that works with the platform to transcribe videos and search for keywords. You can just give the AI tool a link to a whole channel, and it will tell you which videos mention that keyword.
What surprised you during your research?
– What surprised me is how the CDU kind of fell silent in the Autumn of 2023. They certainly did not mention the topic anymore. As I mention in my thesis, it might be due to external circumstances related to the development of the war.
– Something else that surprised me was that the CDU and the CSU mentioned Christian concepts of Nächstenliebe, loving thy neighbor, which is the title of the thesis. They kept invoking this theme of compassion and solidarity, which is a bit more Christian than we might be used to from these parties. At some point, you start to wonder if they really do believe it, or if it was more of a way to frame the German society.
Tell me about one time when you felt challenged in the writing process.
– Well, I think the whole thing was a big challenge. You keep encountering loads and loads of obstacles. First, before you start the literature review, you are overwhelmed with figuring out what the state of the art is. Then, finding a niche was quite challenging. There is so much written on migration and the right wing – what can I bring to the table that is new, and that is relevant and timely? Then Ukraine was a perfect case study. Grasping the theory also required a lot of work, to make sure that I really understood the authors’ intentions when they wrote it, to then be able to use the theory and test it.
– Another challenge was obviously listening to right wing content for weeks on end, not letting it get to your head. Especially if it is not your political conviction.
What is your biggest takeaway from writing this thesis?
– That it was more fun than I expected. I was quite afraid of it beforehand. The bachelor's thesis went fine, but it was not exactly an enjoyable experience that I wanted to repeat in a bigger scale. But it was actually more fun than I expected. The biggest takeaway is that I am open to some academic pursuit in the future, maybe.
What are your plans ahead?
– For now, I am working at the security conference, but that is a temporary position. I want to go to Berlin or Vienna, and work for a few years. I am not too picky, but I would like to work with the public sector, and something to do with international politics. This way I can get a few years of experience, and then I have a more solid grounding to go in a direction that is more to my personal liking and interest.
Calam Gallacher Roig received the award with the following motivation: "Calam Gallacher Roig’s master thesis 'Love thy European Neighbour – but not for long?' provides a brilliant analysis of the highly topical question on how Ukrainian immigration is framed by mainstream right-wing German parties (Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU, Christian Social Union in Bavaria, CSU) and the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Calam’s solid research demonstrates how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has impacted the politics of immigration in Germany and influenced the discourse of the mainstream political right. In a highly creative way, Calam examines each of the three parties’ YouTube accounts through a unique systematic coding scheme where he categorizes all speeches addressing the question of immigration from Ukraine. In the subsequent analysis, Calam employs a theoretical framework based on party competition research in which mainstream parties can either accommodate, confront, or dismiss the challenge presented by a party such as AfD. Calam finds convincing support for a combination of nuanced cooptation and moderate levels of confrontation by mainstream right-wing parties. The findings confirm that Ukrainian immigration is a deviant case and indicate that the CDU/CSU’s framing has been influenced by the AfD. Calam’s research has made a significant and innovative contribution to scholarship in political science."
Click here to read Calam Gallacher Roig's thesis.
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