'Help!

The Poles Are Coming': Narrating a Contemporary Moral Panic

Author(s): Roos Pijpers
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Source: Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, Vol. 88, No. 1 (2006), pp. 91-103
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'HELP! THE POLES ARE COMING'1:

NARRATING A CONTEMPORARY MORAL PANIC
by
Roos Pijpers

Pijpers, R., 2006: 'Help! The Poles are coming': narratinga contemporary moral panic. Geogr. Ann., 88 B (1): 91-103.
ABSTRACT. In the years and months prior to the May 2004 enlargement of the European Union, transitional periods of two to
possibly seven years were imposed upon free movement of labour
for immigrant workers from new (Eastern European) member
states by a majority of 'old' member states. This article aims to
scrutinize fear of mass migration from new member states by examining where (ir)rationality and political opportunism meet in
the perception of this particular flow of labour migration as a
cause for contemporary moral panic. To this purpose, the article
starts with embedding the notion of fear of mass migration in literature on moral panics, risk society and the 'othering' of economic migrants as strangers and folk devils. By means of a case
study narrativeof the decision-making process on the free movement issue in the Netherlands, it is subsequently demonstrated
that 'politics of fear' are deeply rooted in the uncontrollability of
mobilities of an unknown magnitude and an uncertain impact on,
for instance, domestic labour markets. Beyond rationalizable concerns of job loss, however, labour migrants from new member
states are also feared as threats to borders of morality and identity
in Western European societies. The narrative's results are placed
within a wider context of currentboundary drawings with regard
to migration in the enlarging European Union.
Key words: enlargement, fear of mass migration, moral panics,
risk society, boundary drawing, narratives.

It is widely acknowledgedthatthis is the age

of moralpanic.
(Thompson,1998, p. 1)
We may call it a border;abjectionis aboveall
ambiguity.
(Kristeva,1982, p. 9)
Introduction
The date 16 April, 2003, may be regardedas historic in the process of Europeanintegration.This
day witnessedthe signingof the Treatyof Athens,
in which the 2004 accession of ten new member
statesinto the EuropeanUnion was officiallylaid
down.Inthecoursetowardsenlargement,however,
the ratificationof the Treatyby the variousEU
discusmemberstatesled to fierceparliamentary
sions overperceivednegativeconsequencesof enlargement,amongwhichis labourimmigration,the
focus of thisarticle.Havingspentmanyyearscom-

plyingwithmembershipobligations(theCopenhagen accessioncriteriaand the acquis communautaire),accessioncountrieswere on the vergeof receivingmembershiprightsas well. Freedomof labour, allowing EU citizens to take on paid
employmentin anothermember state, is one of
these (fundamental)rights. In rapid succession
however,governmentsof most 'old'memberstates
(with the notableexceptionof Ireland,the United
Kingdomand Sweden) decidedto close theirdomestic labourmarketfor immigrantworkersfrom
new memberstates(with the exceptionof Cyprus
andMalta)for a periodof at leasttwo andpossibly
even sevenyears.
This articleexaminesthe Dutch case. Fearsof
massive flows of immigrantscoming from new
memberstates afterenlargement,as well as their
assumedimpacton labourmarketsandthe welfare
state,has led to intensepoliticalandpublicdiscussion in the Netherlands,culminatingin a governmentaldecision to impose transitionalperiodson
free movementof labouras well. The five-month
periodin which fear of mass migrationfrom new
memberstatesfeaturedin the mediaheadlineswill
serve as a time framewithinwhich to narratethe
debates
case, drawingon reportsof parliamentary
and media coverage. Embeddedin literatureon
moral panics, risk society and the 'othering'of
strangers,the primaryaim of this case studyelaborationis to reflecton the consequencesof fearof
mass migrationfor borderingprocesses,which to
an otherwiseimportantextent are rooted in irrationality,exaggerationandpoliticalopportunism.
Changing versus converging spaces of social
anxiety
From safety discourse to risk society

The concept of moral panic was introducedby

StanleyCohenin his seminalwork'Folkdevilsand
moralpanics'of 1972, telling the storyof societal
uproarin the United Kingdom over clashes between two youthgangsnamed'Mods'and 'Rock-

? The author (2006)

Journal compilation ? (2006) Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography

91

ROOS PIJPERS

a dominantdiscourseof risk (Ungar,2001). In UlrichBeck's 'risksociety',thecontingentandscaleindifferentnatureof manyof society's contempoterrorism,pandemrarydangers(fundamentalism,

ics, to namebuta few) is emphasized,causedby irreversibleglobaldevelopmentssuchas massindustrializationandprogressin informationtechnology
(Hier,2003). Classic moralpanicsliteraturetends
to be foremostconcernedwithidentifyingfolk devils in localized settings which constitute'limited
spatialandtemporalthreats'(Hier,2003). Thedangers mentionedabove lack such a clearlydefined
folk devil, which rendersthem very difficult to
seize andthereforeperhapsan even greaterreason
for moralpanic.Moreover,the diffusecharacterof
new fearsgeneratessimilarlydiffusekindsof folk
devils,namelygovernments,transnational
companies, even multipleinstitutionsat the same time
(Ungar,2001).Yetspacesof socialanxietyareconverging:eventhoughalmostno one escapesawareness of globalizationthroughthe influenceof mass
In the gallery of types that society erects to media, this awarenessstandsloose from the pershow its members which roles should be sistentimportanceof one's immediatesocio-spaavoidedand which shouldbe emulated,these tial environment:'perceptionsof risk are situated
groupshave occupied a constantposition as withinthe contextof routinisedandnormalisedlofolk devils: visible remindersof what we cal order and the productionand functioningof
shouldnot be.
everydayliving'(Hier,2003, p. 13). Risk societyis
thus
mediated,but not necessarilylived. Regard1972,
p. 10)
(Cohen,
less of spatialscale, therefore,'moralpanicsarticWhen political and public interest fades away ulate beliefs aboutbelonging and not belonging,
again, a moralpanic has reacheda stage wherein aboutthe sanctityof territoryandthe fearof transthe featuresof deviancyanddeviantbehaviourare gression'(Sibley, 1995, p. 43).
confirmedas stereotypes(fora detaileddescription
see Cohen, 1972, and Thompson,1998). Goode
andBen-Yehudaattachto moralpanicsthe criteri- The labour immigrant as stranger and folk devil
a perceivedthreatis a Are labourimmigrantscontemporaryfolk devils?
on of disproportionality:
moralpanic, they argue,only when the media at- Before answeringthis questionI will firstaddress
tentionpaidto it by farsurpassesthe objective,real anotherone:Are new social fearsin any way conthreatposed to society. This 'objectivity'is ob- nectedto the more 'mundane'circumstancewhich
tainedthroughrationalcalculationandriskassess- is economicslowdown?DavidSibley statesfirmly
ment of supposednegativeconsequences,which thatthereis 'no obvious connection'betweensoimpliesthatmostmoralpanicscanbe identifiedon- cial anxietiesandeconomiccrises(1995, p. 39) and
ly, and sometimes long, afterwards(Goode and indeed,in countriessuchas Irelandandthe United
Ben-Yehuda, 1994).2
Kingdom,fierceimmigrationdebateshave co-exUngar(2001) urgesus to dismissthe conceptof istednextto relativelystablegrowthratesin recent
moralpanics,at least in its classic meaning,argu- years. However,the currentstate of the economy
ing thatat the time of Cohen'sMods andRockers, would seem to have a moreprofoundimpactthan
social anxietyemerged(andfadedaway again)in previousrecessions,at leastin continentalEurope.
a dominantdiscourse of safety. Identifyingfolk Job loss after times of sheer endless optimism
devils as well as the threatthey posed was fairly aboutthe 'new' economy,supposedlyturningthe
easy, as was the establishmentof effectivecontrol characteristiccyclical upwardtrendof economic
systems to counterbalancetheir perceivedinflu- growthinto a linearone, has been enormousand
ence. Nowadays,social anxietiesareembeddedin widespread.Anxiety overjob competitionamong

ers'. The uproarwas completelyblownout of proportionby the massmediaandsubsequentlyraised

fiercedebatesoverBritishmoralityand,closely related,identity.This 'ModsandRockers'case is the
best-known example of a classic moral panic,
whichbroadlyincludesanxietiesaboutinterrelated
issuesof youth,sex andviolence:youthgangs,paedophilia,homosexuality,AIDS, sex on screen,and
so on (Thompson,1998; Critcher,2003). Moral
panicsdifferfromconcernsabout,forexample,unemploymentor labourmarketintegrationin the
sense thatthey threatensociety's moralorder- or
an 'ideological conception of some part of it'
(Thompson,1998,p. 8). A moralpanicis instigated
by an individualor groupwho perceivesmoralorderas endangered.Thosecallingattentionto a perceivedthreatarecalled 'moralentrepreneurs'
(Cohen, 1972) or 'claims makers'(Goode and BenYehuda,1994). Anothercharacteristicof a moral
panicis the presenceof 'folk devils':

92

Geografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

MORALPANIC
'HELP!THEPOLESARECOMING':NARRATINGA CONTEMPORARY

domestic workers is only reinforced by the potential presence on the labour market of outsiders who
are able and willing to accept more jobs for lower
wages. Labour contracts are increasingly temporal
in duration at the expense of permanent contracts.
Welfare states are reorganized. Moreover, risks of
industrial production facilities getting relocated to
faraway places are higher than before: modernization 'has reached the furthest lands of the planet'
(Bauman, 2004, p. 6). These concerns, set in the
mind of the risk-avoiding economic agent, call for
appropriate and effective measures: responsibility
for not having, not finding or not keeping work is
transferredto others, in this case labour immigrants
from new member states. Open borders can be
closed and access to competitive labour markets effectively denied.
Fear of mass migration stretches beyond fear of
job loss and social benefit misuse. Being assumed
to pursue 'evil' agendas of collective action (stealing away 'our' jobs, shopping the welfare state),
immigrants are accused of threatening the moral
order proper. They challenge the invisible lines
wrapped aroundthat order,which, with some sense
of imagination, may be called society's moral
boundaries:
Moral panics are likely to 'clarify [the] normative contours' and 'moral boundaries' of
the society in which they occur, demonstrat[ing] that there are limits to how much diversity can be tolerated in a society.... In fact,
it is entirely likely that moral panics serve as a
mechanism for simultaneously strengthening
and redrawing society's moral boundaries that line between morality and immorality,
just where one leaves the territory of good and
enters that of evil.
(Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994, pp. 29 and 52)
Moral boundaries come to the surface and hence
are 'open' for reinforcement only when threatened
by some outside force. National identity, embedded
in society's history and maintained in silent consent, is the subject of renewed discussion. Often,
the immigrant is assumed to behave incompatibly
with national identity even before accessing national territory:in migration policy documentation,
non-nationals (whether they be labour immigrants
or political refugees) are named 'aliens' and 'strangers' to our territoryand to us. Inspired by the work
of Zygmunt Bauman (cf. 1997, 2004), an increasingly large stream of literature is devoted to the
Geografiska Annaler * 88 B (2006) ? 1

'philosophy of strangers' within social theory (cf.

Diken, 1998; Van Houtum andVan Naerssen, 2002;
Hier, 2003), tying in the exclusionary status of
many immigrants to the 'discontents' of globalization (Bauman, 1997). In risk society, immigrants
are considered mere side-effects or even 'the
waste' of globalization and are thus feared as disorder-bringing strangers (Bauman, 2004). Just as
folk devils remind us of what we should not be, as
Cohen insightfully argued, the presence of economic migrants in our midst reminds us of what we
could be in case our currently favourable circumstances take a turn for the worse. We 'risk' becoming migrants ourselves when jobs are reallocated to
'others' by cost-minimizing business managers
(Bauman, 2004). Others (cf. Kristeva, 1982; Balibar, 1991; Sibley, 1995, 1998) draw on psychoanalytical work on the impurity of the human body to
reach much the same conclusion. 'Them' looking
or acting 'different' causes harmless feelings of curiosity and sensation alongside much more powerful sentiments of repulsion and estrangement
among 'us'. Social rejection invoked by bodily abjection articulates into space through processes of
bordering, exclusion and purification:
Recognising that some groups are abject also
suggests that it is insufficient to focus solely
on problems of integration into labour markets. Exclusion from labour markets may be a
consequence from their abject status or ... being in or out of a labour market may not be an
issue.
(Sibley, 1998, p. 95)
Eager to keep the fragile order secure, control
mechanisms are installed and enforced upon those
feared because of their very 'being' as well as their
being in a migratory position, either excluding
them from a territoryor restricting their freedom of
movement once inside. In that sense, the guarding
of moral boundaries may well result in an upgrading of the physical borders of the nation-state, or of
the access restrictions prevailing in some parts and/
or segments of the nation-state or the national economy (in this case the labour market). Through these
kinds of policies and practices, in turn, the members of such bordered communities (in this case domestic, often low-skilled employees) enjoy a certain degree of protection and hence of security (Hier, 2003). Economic risk, more likely to strike and
be felt locally than other contemporary dangers, is
therefore very much part of risk society, in which
93

ROOS PIJPERS
Table 1. Transitional arrangements in member states.
Member state

Transitional period

Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
The Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

2 to 7 years
At least 2 years
At least 2 years
At least 2 years
At least 2 years
2 to 7 years
At least 2 years
None
At least 2 years
At least 2 years
At least 2 years
At least 2 years
At least 2 years
None
None

Key flanking measure

Access only in case of full-time job

Bilateral arrangements still valid

Limited access to welfare benefits
Quota system
Except for specific jobs and sectors
Quota system
Quota system
Limited access to welfare benefits
Limited access to welfare benefits

Source: EURES: The European Job Mobility Portal at http://europa.eu.int/eures

desires for security and order are often fulfilled by

constructing folk devil-like strangers out of labour
immigrants.
Moral border guards
Literature on moral panics and risk society distinguishes a fairly broad range of potential moral entrepreneurs:individual politicians, political parties,
opinion-makers, interest groups, the media (Goode
and Ben-Yehuda, 1994; Thompson, 1998; Critcher,
2003; Hier, 2003). Several empirical studies report
the moral 'borderguarding' of immigrants and asylum-seekers. Claims-making activities of (Western
European) parliaments, for example, have been examined by Van Dijk, who demonstratesconvincingly that, indeed, parliamentary debates often negatively represent immigrants as unknown others and
therefore as 'threatsto the nation' (Van Dijk, 1997).
In the case of the Netherlands, Erik Snel identifies a
number of influential individual moral entrepreneurs who have recently portrayedthe failing-to-integrate immigrant as folk devil. These individuals,
including politicians as well as opinion-makers,catalysed anti-immigration sentiments otherwise
thought of as virtually non-existent, markingthe beginning of a wholly differentperception of immigration and integrationissues. Previously the subject of
political care due to socio-economic deprivations,
the non-Westernimmigrantis increasingly regarded
as a threat to Dutch cultural identity and domestic
norms and values (Snel, 2003).
Taking on the perspective of the general public,
Lynn and Lea (2003) analyse the ways in which
public opinion about asylum policy in the United
94

Kingdom expressed in newspapers contributes to

the social construction of asylum-seekers as strangers. They identify a discursive rhetoric which
strongly supports the idea that the vox populi may
arouse perceptions of asylum-seekers as undesired
and to be rejected as well (Lynn and Lea, 2003, see
also Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994). In fact, both
Thompson (1998) and Critcher (2003) find that a
large part of the 'distortion' moral panics suffer
from in terms of exaggeration and disproportionality may be accredited to the media. Social anxieties
instigated either at decision/opinion-making levels
or in localized settings by the general public can be
and are spread by national and local media. In a
way, therefore, moral panics over migration issues
are not dissimilar to what crowd psychology in as
early as the beginning of the twentieth century analysed as 'irrationalmovements' (Balibar, 1991, p.
23). On the other hand, contemporary claims-making leaves folk devils less marginalized than before: their voice is made heard in and by the media
as well (Hier, 2003).
Elite actors, the general public and the media are
inextricably linked in instigating social anxiety
about migration at different, yet, through information transfer and locally lived economic insecurity,
converging spatial scales. Hence unravelling their
relative importanceis a complex task. Viewed in this
context, the 'leap-frogging' of restrictive measures
(transitional periods imposed upon free movement
of labour) with regard to immigrant workers from
the EuropeanUnion's new member states is likely to
be caused by a chain reaction of fear of mass migration (for an overview, see Table 1).
Geografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

'HELP! THE POLES ARE COMING': NARRATING A CONTEMPORARY MORAL PANIC

Narrating fear of mass migration: the Dutch

case
Moral panics and narrative

The remainderof this articleis devotedto a case

studyof fearof mass migrationfromnew member
statesin the Netherlands,culminatingin the closing (orratherverylimitedopening)of theDutchlabour market. More specifically, by examining
where rationality,exaggerationand opportunism
meet in the perceptionof this particularmigration
flow as a cause for contemporarymoralpanic, I
hope to identifyimplicationsfor boundary-drawing. I will orderthe variousrelevanteventswhich
occurred during the five-month period ranging
fromSeptember2003 untilFebruary2004, wherein the Dutchdecision-makingprocesson the issue
of freemovementof labourfeaturedin politicaland
publicdebatesin Parliamentand mediaby means
of a narrative.Narrativesaredetailedcase studydescriptionswhich are used as methodologicalresearchtools acrossthewide arrayof socialandpolicy sciences. Reservationsconcerningcase narraof
tivescommonlyrelateto issuesof transferability
research results. However, since generalizing
knowledgeis not alwaysa socially useful activity,
the strengthof any case study,which of necessity
incorporatesa narrativeelement,is to be foundnot
in the generalbut in the detail (Flyvbjerg,2001).
Hence,themaingoal of narrativeis to exhibitrather
than to demonstrate(Czarniawska,1998). The
qualityof this exhibitionis enhancedwhenthereis
a sharpeye for detail: 'in narrative,the perceived
coherenceof the sequel(temporalorder)of events
ratherthanthe truthor falsityof storyelementsdeterminestheplotandthusthepowerof thenarrative
as a story'(Czarniawska,1998, p. 5).3
Preciselythis strictadherenceto chronologyin
a good narrativeis quite in accordancewith case
descriptionsof moralpanicsfoundin literature(cf.
Cohen, 1972; Thompson,1998; Critcher,2003).
Moreover,the emergenceandfadingawayof a social anxiety,I would say, are 'bestunderstoodnarratively'(Flyvbjerg,2001, p. 137). Narrativesenable the researcherto drawconclusionson the exandothistenceof folk devils,moralentrepreneurs
er actorson stage, as well as on the articulationof
moral boundariesinto spatial ones. Critcherdescribes the naturalconnectionbetween narrative
andmoralpanicsas follows:
We do not have to apply formal theories of
narrative ... to note that most moral panics tail
Geografiska Annaler * 88 B (2006) ? 1

off when Something Has Been Done - or,

more accurately,when SomethingHas Been
Seen To Be Done. If what we have here is a
kindof moralfable,in whichretributionis exof evil, thenmoral
acteduponthe perpetrators
panicscan be deconstructedas narratives.
(Critcher,2003, p. 141)
Below, I attemptto producesuch a moralpanics
narrative,drawingon parliamentarydocumentation, newspaper coverage (news, backgrounds,
comments),televisionandradiobroadcasts(news,
interviews,documentaries)as well as electronic
sources.
An 'alert' Member of Parliament

Accordingto Critcher,a key triggeringevent 'may

be foundin the middleratherthanat the beginning
of a moral panic narrative'(Critcher,2003). I
would say thatthe panic aboutpotentialmass immigrationfrom new memberstates after EU enlargementwas launchedby a Memberof Parliament (MoP) from the LiberalConservativeParty.
debateover
Whenpreparingfor the parliamentary
the ratificationof the Athens Treaty,the MoP
comes across the fact that contraryto most other
EU memberstatesat thattime (summer2003), the
Netherlandshadnot yet takena decisionaboutlabourmarketaccessforthisgroupof immigrants.In
an interviewhe recalls:
I had just been appointedMemberof Parliament, assembledall documentmaterial,and
foundout thatparliamentneverreallyhaddiscussedproperlyaboutthe admittanceof Eastern Europeanimmigrants.Every aspect [of
the Treatyof Athens]had been discussedand
negotiated,butnot this one.4
(Wynia (2003), Quoted in WeekbladElsevier, 15

November)
Soon after,on 24 September,the MoP participates
in a debatein the DutchLowerChamber(Tweede
Kamer),which is aboutan amendmentof the socalled 'Law on Alien Labour'concerningthe recruitmentof labourfromstatesoutsidetheEuropeanFreeTradeArea(EFTA).Duringthe discussion,
he pointsto the fact thatthe previousDutch governmenthad been basingits decision not to close
the labourmarketfor immigrantworkersfromnew
memberstateson a reportpublishedin 2001 by the
Socio-economicCouncil, an influentialadvisory
95

ROOSPIJPERS

body to the government.5 At that time the Dutch

economy was still booming, and the report explicitly assumed these favourable circumstances to
persist. In the course of the debate, the MoP introduces the following motion:
The Chamber, having taken notice of the debate, considering, that as a consequence of the
economic slowdown unemployment in the
Netherlands is increasing, that after accession
of 10 new member states into the European
Union a furtherdistortion of the labour market
can be feared caused by an inflow of relatively
cheap labourers, that the accession treaty
leaves open the possibility for the [present]
member states not to open the labour market
for these workers for a period of up to 7 years,
calls upon the government to, if necessary,
take measures in time by maintaining or accomplishing a general policy measure based
on the Law on Alien Labour to keep the Dutch
labour markets closed to employees from the
new member states, for the time being.
(Official parliamentary documentation at http://
parlando.sdu.nl, 24 September, 2003)
The motion is directed to the Deputy Minister of
Social Affairs and Employment, who is responsible
for Dutch labour market policy. Although the Deputy Minister is not completely convinced of the importance of the arguments brought forward by the
MoP, he admits that up-to-date information about
the numbers of migrants to be expected after EU
enlargement is lacking, as well as knowledge about
the positions of other Western European countries
besides Germany and Austria. He therefore promises Parliamentto come up with a memorandum on
the advantages and disadvantages of issuing free
movement to labour immigrants from new member
states. Apart from labour market closure, he will
also consider the possibility of holding on to the requirement of work permits after enlargement. This
memorandum is due by the end of the year (http://
parlando.sdu.nl, 24 September, 2003).
Spreading the word
After a month of relative silence, the issue is picked
up by several other Members of Parliament on both
sides of the political spectrum. The immediate
cause for this is the appearance of the Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in NOVA,a
daily current affairs television programme, on 28
96

October. During the broadcast, the expectation is

voiced that 30 000 labour immigrants will be coming from Poland only. In response to this, the Deputy Minister declares that 'these are no numbers to
be worried about' (NOVA broadcast, 28 October,
2003). Two days later, two MoPs of the Christian
Democrat Party express their concern over this
statement, as they doubt the absorption capacity of
the Dutch labour market for such a high number of
immigrant workers. They demand to be told, first,
the effects of these expected developments for domestic workers, the low-skilled in particular; second, an estimation of numbers of legal and illegal
Eastern European employees currently working in
the Netherlands; and third, how many of these people are in possession of a German passport, allowing them free entrance on to the Dutch labour market already (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 6 November,
2003).
That same week, the conservative MoP who may
by now be considered to be the instigator of the discussion, increases his pressure on the Deputy Minister by officially asking him to clarify his expectations on the inflow of seasonal workers following
EU enlargement. This question is based on an article in the Agrarian Newspaper, reporting the building of hundreds of extra housing facilities for employees from new member states by a number of rural municipalities (Agrarisch Dagblad, 30 October,
2003). The MoP demands the Deputy Minister to
examine unemployment rates and labour supply in
the region in question, and whether the initiative
taken by these municipalities is in accordance with
official Dutch housing policy (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 5 November, 2003). In addition, he repeats his earlier demand to overrule the liberal
stance of open borders taken by the previous government. The Deputy Minister responds that he is
working on the memorandum which will cover all
the questions asked (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 6 November, 2003).
On 19 November, the Lower Chamber again discusses the ratification of the Treaty of Athens. Although the topic of free movement of labour is but
one of the many topics on the agenda in the afternoon and evening of the day on which this much encompassing debate takes place, it turns out to be the
most controversial one. Pim Fortuyn's Party6joins
the Liberal Conservatives and the Christian Democrats in their wish that, due to the already disadvantageous and worsening economic situation in the
Netherlands, and due to the fact that several neighbouring member states have already decided to
Geografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

'HELP! THE POLES ARE COMING': NARRATING A CONTEMPORARY MORAL PANIC

close their borders, the Dutch position should not

be reconsidered. The left-wing Labour Party,Democrat Party and the Green Party oppose this rather
firmly, evaluating such reconsideration as 'being
not very decent' and 'breaking a promise already
made' (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 19 November,
2003). Nevertheless, in case expected immigration
numbers will prove sufficiently large to be a cause
for concern, all parties declare to put aside their objections. The far left-wing Socialist Party and the
conservative Christian Parties share this view.
Enter the media
Although the heated discussion does not bring the
actual decision any closer, since all the political
parties prefer to await the memorandum prepared
by the Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Unemployment, it causes a storm of media attention,
particularly in the various national newspapers. In
the days after the debate, several MoPs are quoted
repeatedly, most notably the Liberal Conservative
MoP,7who fears that 'the Netherlands will become
the lowest drain on the European labour market'8 if
borders are kept open (quoted in De Volkskranton
20 November, and in Dagblad Trouw on 22 November, 2003). The spokesman for the Labour Party and the spokeswoman for the Democrat Party in
turn accuse the right-wing parties outright of
'arousing negative sentiments' outside of Parliament in appearances to the general public (De Volkskrant, 20 November, 2003). More specifically,
they are referring to the visit of the Dutch Minister
of Finance to a conference of his Conservative Party. During this conference he declares himself to be
'against cheap Poles', as the headlines of an article
covering the conference reveal (NRC Handelsblad,
18 November, 2003). The Minister says:
In case Germany, for instance, decides to temporarily close its labour market for Polish employees, they will flow to the Netherlands. We
should not want that.'
(Quoted inNRCHandelsblad, 18 November, 2003)
More importanteven than the supposedly provocative words uttered by the Minister of Finance, both
spokespersons are tempted to draw the conclusion
thatthe free movement issue has been discussed and
perhaps even decided upon by members of the administration already, albeit behind closed doors.
They are suspicious of a hidden agenda in favour of
closing the labour market, in imitation of Germany,
Geografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

Austria and other countries (http://parlando.sdu.nl,

19 November, 2003). During the debate, however,
the accusation is denied by his fellow party members. In the aftermath, the Democrat Minister of
Economic Affairs relaxes the 'hidden agenda' theory, since he turs out to be a fierce advocate of free
movement (De Volkskrant,26 November, 2003). In
fact this is not all that surprising, since the Minister
of Economic Affairs is generally known to take proEuropean standpoints.The discussion in Parliament
between, most notably, the Liberal Conservatives,
the ChristianDemocrats and Pim Fortuyn'sPartyon
the one hand, and the Democrats, the Labour Party
and the Green Party on the other manifests itself
within the government between the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Economic Affairs.

Contrasting opinions
With deadlock between two powerful members of
government thus reached, the last two weeks of November and the first two of December witness the
rise of the public's voice in the media. Whereas media coverage up until now consisted mainly of reports of debates in Parliament and relatively short
news flashes, comments on the issue of labour immigration from new member states may be found
increasingly in opinion sections, columns and
background articles. A telling example appears, for
instance, in NRC Handelsblad on 21 November,
when an anonymous reader argues that the fear of
Eastern European immigrant workers stealing jobs
from domestic workers is completely out of place.
S/he points at the fact that seasonal migration from
accession countries, mainly from Poland, has been
a common phenomenon in the Netherlands in the
last decade and a half, and to 'mutual satisfaction
of employers as well as employees':
Employers are happy because Poles work
hard, don't complain and hardly fall ill. With
an old-fashioned work-ethic they pluck gerberas, prune tomatoes or cultivate asparagus
in Brabant and Limburg9 in spring. Finding
Dutch employees for these jobs, which are
known to be quite harsh has been impossible
for many years now.
(Quoted in NRCHandelsblad, 21 November, 2003)
Subsequently, the reader argues for combating illegal immigration ratherthan excluding legal workers. Although his or her background is unknown, it
would seem that s/he has a substantial amount of
97

ROOS PIJPERS

background knowledge on the subject. In general,

public comments about the issuance of free movement to labour immigrants from new member
states come from people who may be regarded as
experts in the field. Among them, for instance, a
professor of public finance, who expresses his concern over the competitive position of domestic lowrated workers when the labour market is opened.
He also emphasizes a potential increase in government expenditure on social security following enlargement (Verbon,in Het Financieele Dagblad, 21
November, 2003). The professor's concerns are
contradicted by MoP's from the Labour Party who
accuse him of 'elementary school calculating' (Het
Financieele Dagblad, 10 December, 2003). Obviously irritatedby these words, the professor in turn
accuses the Labour Party of engaging in 'ostrich
policy' (Het Financieele Dagblad, 19 December,
2003). This is an illustrative example of politicalpublic interaction in the media.
From 29 November until 13 December, the regional newspaperLimburgsDagblad publishes a series of articles aboutPolish immigrantworkersin the
Netherlands and Germany,and more specifically in
the province of Limburg. In eight background articles, a wide range of related topics is covered, ranging from the existence of 'malafide' labour market
intermediaries taking advantage of immigrants to
the negative consequences of young men and women drainingaway from Polish villages. Although the
series provides a realistic and by no means overdramatized view of the issue, the objective reader
cannot but conclude from it that there are indeed
many immigrants to be expected after EU enlargement. One of the articles is dedicated to German
Poles from areas in southernPoland which, prior to
the Second World War,belonged to Germany,who,
still having Germanpassports, will be able to freely
enter the Dutch labour market regardless of the decision of the Dutch government. Most of the many
Poles in possession of German passports are, according to the article, quite willing and indeed preparing to migrate afterenlargement. Similar conclusions are drawnby the writersof anotherseries of articles in Het Financieele Dagblad entitled 'The
neighbours arecoming'. Apartfrom sharingthe concern over Poles with German passports being misused by illegally operating labour market intermediaries (6 December), they call in the expertise of a
migration professor (28 November and 10 December), several economists (28 November) and the
president of the largest labour union in the Netherlands (16 December).
98

Producing factual evidence

Determined to come up with a well-informed policy
decision, the Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and
Employment asks a renowned government-affiliated researchbureauto conduct an in-depth study into
the advantages and disadvantages of admitting labour from new member states. This NetherlandsBureau for Economic Policy Analysis delivers the main
'ingredient'for the Deputy Minister's memorandum
on 14 January,2004. In a brief though detailed report, the bureau concludes that in spite of other
member states' decisions to temporarily shut down
the labour market, a relatively small number of immigrant workers from new member states may be
expected after enlargement. Drawing on an analysis
of several scientific migration forecasts, the bureau
estimates an additional inflow of between 3500 and
8500 immigrant workers (De Mooij et al., 2004).
This range does not include seasonal migration.
Moreover,the majorityof these immigrantsare likely to fulfil still existing job vacancies in the bottom
segment of the labour market. In that case, no substantial 'harm' will be done to the Dutch welfare
state (De Mooij et al., 2004).
For the Liberal Conservative Party, the report is
convincing enough to let go of the demand to close
the Dutch labour market. Their spokesman says
that numbers 'look good' (De Volkskrant,15 January, 2004). The Minister of Finance however, also
a Liberal Conservative, still holds on to his preference of closing the labour market. The same is true
for the ChristianDemocrats and Pim Fortuyn's Party, who seem to be determined not to issue free
movement regardless of the report and the forthcoming decision of the Deputy Minister of Social
Affairs and Employment (De Volkskrant,15 January, 2004). In a thirty-page letter published on 23
January, almost a month later than initially foreseen, the Deputy Minister informs Parliament
about this decision, which turns out to be a compromise between opposing parties. Instead of fully
opening or closing the Dutch labour market on 1
May, a limited number of 22 000 immigrants will
be allowed access (http://parlando.sdu.nl,23 January, 2004). This figure is based on the estimate
made by the bureau, complemented with numbers
of seasonal migration. In case more than 22 000
people enter, the labour market will be closed. The
letter explicitly states that caution is in order:
In this respect, it is important to keep in mind
that, as the Netherlands Bureau for Economic
Geografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

MORALPANIC
'HELP!THEPOLESARECOMING':NARRATINGA CONTEMPORARY

Policy Analysis annotates, the estimations are

surrounded with insecurities. This insecurity
about the actual number of labour migrants
contains a risk that gains weight when unemployment in the Netherlands rises.
(http://parlando.sdu.nl, 23 January,2004)
For this reason, the government leaves open the
possibility to take further restricting measures if
real numbers of migrants following EU enlargement indicate the necessity to do so. Asked about
his reaction to the letter, the Dutch Prime Minister
firmly replies:
We do acknowledge free movement of persons, but we will not overlook the effects for
our labour market.
(Quoted in De Volkskrant,23 January,2004).
Herewith, one would expect the issue to be 'dealt
with'. To the surpriseof many, however, not least the
Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Employment,
the last words have not all been voiced. When discussing the letter in Parliament on 3 February,the
majority of parties (the Liberal Conservatives, the
Christian Democrats, Pim Fortuyn's Party and the
Socialist Party) evaluate the proposed limit as not
being strict enough. Still convinced of a greater migration threat than forecast by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, these parties introduce no less than five motions in the course of the
debate, either highlighting a specific aspect of the
free movement issue or proposing an alternativesolution (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 3 February, 2004).
There is, for instance, a demand that official requirements for receiving a work permit for immigrant
workers from new EU countries be as strict as those
for non-EU (and non-EFTA) employees. Another
motion questions the migrants' ability to integrate
into Dutch society, and consequently asks that they
become acquaintedwith Dutch language and culture
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,3 February,2004). The argument proposed by the spokesman of Pim Fortuyn's
Party is particularlylively, since it refers to the ambivalent relationship between the Dutch and water:
Driven by a dead-end situation in their home
country and hoping to receive a royal income
here, workers will massively go westward. It
is like water, always flowing to the lowest
point. Coincidentally, the Netherlands is the
lowest country in Europe, which means that
we need to be prepared. If the flow turns out to
Geografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

be high tide, we will be too late, because we

failed to take appropriatemeasures by digging
a canal and building dikes.
(http://parlando.sdu.nl,3 February,2004)
Upon receiving so much criticism, the Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Employment promises to
discuss the issue within the government once again.
A climax at last
After almost five months of intense, sometimes
heated debates and discussions in parliament and
the various media, the 'fear of mass migration' narrative reaches its climax when the government decides upon a final solution on 13 February,2004. In
a second, much shorter letter to Parliament, the
Deputy Minister announces that instead of installing the 22 000 maximum, migrants from new member states will be granted access to only a very small
number of jobs in designated sectors of the economy (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 13 February, 2004). In
these sectors, labour shortages should be perceived
as structuraland not likely to be fulfilled by Dutch
workers (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 13 February and
De Volkskrant,14 February,2004).10 The majority
of sectors will be closed until 2006 however. Having achieved this result, the demanding political
parties clearly emerge as overall winners of the debate. The most important opposing actors, the
Democrat Party and the labour union, declare they
are very disappointed. They question the feasibility
of the proposed measures, especially with regardto
the drawing up a shortlist of 'open' sectors to be
adapted and updated according to the needs of the
moment (De Volkskrant,14 February and Dagblad
Trouw, 14 February, 2004). However, the government continues to explicitly keep open the possibility to further restrict free movement in case either the number of immigrants coming exceeds expectations, or the enlargement process of the European Union enters a new stage.
By the time the Dutch decision is finally
through, yet another immigration-related issue has
taken over the media headlines and political and
public debate. The Minister of Alien Affairs and Integration launches a highly controversial proposal
to expel 26000 rejected asylum-seekers. Heavy
protests arise from immigration interest groups as
well as local policy-makers, designated to put these
harsh measures into practice. This protest is fuelled
by the media, eagerly portraying many individual
asylum-seekers, which causes the issue to com99

ROOS PIJPERS
Table 2. The 'fear of mass migration' narrative in headlines.
Stage/event

Principal characteristics and/or actors

Emergence

A MoP from the Liberal Conservative Party introduces a motion in Parliament's Lower Chamber.

Claims making

The Liberal Conservatives (most notably the Minister of Finance), the Christian Democrats, Pim Fortuyn's
Party and the Socialist Party claim a threat to the labour market, the welfare state and Dutch cultural identity.

Elite consensus and

concern

All political parties agree to await a clarifying report to be prepared by the Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. The Minister of Economic Affairs holds on firmly to free movement throughout
the debate.

Media inventory

Numerous stories appear in newspapers and on television, the radio and the Internet, covering news and
backgrounds.

Expert involvement

Some experts in the field express concern over the immigrants' influence on the Dutch welfare state. Others relax this influence by pointing to the need of labour migration in ill-functioning labour market sectors.

Coping and resolution

In spite of a comforting risk assessment study, the government decides to introduce a limit to the number
of migrants to be allowed access; upon protests, it restricts labour market access altogether with the exception of a very small number of jobs in appointed sectors.

Fade away

Controversy over 26 000 asylum-seekers to be expelled overpowers fear of mass migration.

Legacy

Immediate consequences will become known in the period following EU enlargement. Long-term legacy
is expected to become manifest in discussions about the EU's future geopolitical expansion.

Source: 'events' drawn from Critcher's extended model of moral panics (2003, pp. 151-153).

pletely overpower fear of mass migration from new

member states. In NOVA,the Minister of Alien Affairs herself speaks of a true 'media hype' (NOVA
broadcast, 3 February,2004). On 11 February,nevertheless, NRC Handelsblad opens with the heading 'Inhospitable Europe makes Poles feel bitter',
introducing a story about feelings of unpleasant
surprise and resentment among policy-makers and
citizens in Poland as an immediate reaction to the
decision of so many member states to impose transitional periods on free movement of labour.

Boundary-drawingthrough politics of fear

A recapitulation in main findings
The narrative shows that claims-making activities
by politicians in Parliament, opinion-makers and
experts in the fields of migration and labour markets have been both frequent and intense. In general, one could certainly conclude that elite actors
ratherthan the voxpopuli have shaped political and
public debates over the free movement issue in the
Netherlands. Newspaper coverage and television
broadcasts were brought by 'upper-class' media in
the form of opinion sections, article series, discussion programmes and documentaries. Far-reaching
stereotyping and exaggeration was not found, with
the exception of some provocative headlines
('Help! The Poles are coming', 'Polish hordes')
and denigrating quotes ('Cheap Poles', 'Eastern
100

European drooping moustaches'). Moreover, support for immigrants from new member states was
expressed both by politicians and other contributors to the discussion, although an apparent need
for risk assessment, carried out by the Netherlands
Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis accordingly,
was widely felt. The narrative faded away following the final introduction of transitional arrangements and through the upsurge of other social anxieties (for an overview see Table 2).
On (ir)rationality and opportunism
Fear of mass migration in Parliamentand the media
was about the potential ousting from the labourmarket of domestic workersby immigrantworkers from
new member states.At firstthen, the resulting labour
market shut-down would seem a straightforwardreaction to the fact thatalmost all of the otherEU member states restrict free movement and decided to do
so well before the Dutch government. Indeed, concerns about the labour market and the welfare state
arenot all morally flawed regardingthe currentproblematic circumstances in both of these 'segments' of
Dutch society. Yet what most labour marketexperts
agree upon is that immigration might (and in many
cases already does) alleviate structurallabour shortages into more sectors of Western European economies than the only very few which are currently
opened up for job competition in the Netherlands.
Geografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

MORALPANIC
'HELP!THEPOLESARECOMING':NARRATINGA CONTEMPORARY

Workersfrom Poland and other accession countries

have been contributing to the Dutch economy in
many ways for many years; on the asparagus and
strawberry fields, at construction sites, and in the
packaging industry. Transferringresponsibility for
the ill-functioning of these sectors (in terms of finding motivated employees) on to labour immigrants
constitutes political opportunism in favour of economic protection of domestic workers. The surprisingly easy way in which the otherwise comforting results yielded by the bureau's risk calculation were
bypassed once more exposes the intrinsic ambivalence of spatial morality: freedom of labour should
be fundamental to EU citizenship but it should not
pose a threatto an even more fundamental 'right' to
retain accumulated wealth within national borders
(Van Houtum and Van Naerssen, 2002).
In their classic definition, moral panics are considered of limited duration,as they 'heighten boundary consciousness but... are, by definition, episodic.
Fears die down and people subsequently rub along
with each other' (Sibley, 1995, p. 39). This may be
because society and more particularlythe panic-instigating actors on stage consider policy measures
undertakento be appropriateor sufficient. In addition, and also applying here, new threats may
emerge, posing another or a greater challenge to
boundariesof morality and identity.Whereas the latter reason clearly reflects the contingency of contemporary moral panics over immigration and minority integration, the issue of recurrence seems
highly relevant as well. As was agreed in the course
towards enlargement, restricting countries such as
the Netherlands are obliged to review the free movement theme in the spring of 2006, with the extension
of transitionalperiods as a possible and perhapslikely outcome. For, capitalizing on the economic risk of
low-skilled domestic workers, indeed one of society's most vulnerable groups, claims-makers such as
those identified in this narrativeare sure to celebrate
once again the argument that open borders lead,
phrased tellingly by Erik Snel, 'to uncontrollable
consequences, to overstretch threatening our society's character'(Snel, 2003, p. 15).

Conclusion
Although limited in its scope, the case study narrative elaborated in this article supports the view that
political decision-making with regard to sensitive
migration issues is grounded in and caused by fears
of becoming 'flooded' by mobilities of an uncertain
size and impact. Notwithstanding the temporarynaGeografiska Annaler ? 88 B (2006) ? 1

ture of the transitional arrangementscurrently imposed, since free movement of labour will eventually be issued to inhabitants of new member states at
some point in the (nearby) future, attentionis drawn
to EU-enlargement rounds still to come. Starting
with the striven-for accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, the question arises whether migration fears in member states will co-determine where
the geopolitical expansion of the European Union
ends. Recent progress in accession negotiations with
by far the most controversial candidate member
state, Turkey, instantly caused rumours of massive
flows of Turksto be expected. Boundary-drawingin
the European Union is ongoing, as are the efforts to
keep out labour immigrants.With the exception of a
few who are directed towards clearly specified sectors in orderto fulfil well-demarcatedjobs, most are
denied access as politically undesired strangersand
folk devils in spite of their sometimes obvious market desirability. Images of moral overstretch in the
reporting media feed and will continue to feed this
politics of fear and therewithreinforce the perceived
need for boundary-drawing.By way of a conclusion,
this suggests that fear of (mass) migration from new
member states is rooted in a complex interplay of
(ir)rationalityand political opportunism,which otherwise remains open for furtherdeconstruction.

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my thanksto FransBoekema,
Martin van der Velde, Henk van Houtum and three
anonymous peer reviewers for critically reading and
constructively commenting upon an earlier version
of this article. This previous version was presented
at the NETHUR School 'Discourse Analysis in the
Social Sciences: Theories and Methods', at Utrecht
University, the Netherlands, on 19 May, 2004.
Roos Pijpers
Department of Human Geography and Nijmegen
Centrefor Border Research
Radboud University Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Contact information:
Radboud University Nijmegen
Nijmegen School of Management
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3.2.24
P.O. Box 9108
6500 HK Nijmegen
The Netherlands
E-mail: r.pijpers@fm.ru.nl
101

ROOS PIJPERS

Notes
1. Provocative title of a television documentary broadcast on
29 September, 2003, made by journalist Arthur van Amerongen and film-maker Gilles Frenken.
2. Goode and Ben-Yehuda have embedded the scientific meaning of the concept of moral panic in a wider epistemological
debate between objectivists/realists and social constructionists by proposing an intermediate variant which they call
'contextual' constructionism (Hier speaks of 'weak' constructionism). Contextual constructionists subscribe to the
idea that moral panics can pose objective/real threats to be assessed by rationalistic calculation and the reconstruction of
chronological events, but are exaggerated through mediation
and 'social, cultural and political processes' (Goode and BenYehuda, 1994; Hier, 2003, p. 8). Although no such risk assessment is made here, I will follow this contextual constructionist approach by assuming that migration flows from new
member states following EU enlargement are realities to be
expected and not merely imaginated by sensation-seeking
media and opportunistic politicians.
3. For this reason, it is important to note that the kind of narrative I intend to write does not place as much emphasis on
discursive context and the deconstruction of power relations
as strict Foucauldian-style discourse analysis prescribes.
Two excellent examples of critical discourse analyses of migration and asylum issues may be found in Van Dijk (1997)
and Lynn and Lea (2003).
4. All quotes are literally translated from Dutch. I have attempted to stay as close to the exact meaning of the Dutch
texts as possible without producing bad English (or good
'Dunglish', as some prefer to call English with obvious
Dutch word use and sequence). For reasons of transparency
and privacy, no names of key actors involved in the 'fear of
mass migration' narrative are mentioned.
5. The current Dutch administration is a centre-right-wing coalition of the Liberal Conservative Party, the Christian Democrat Party and the Democrat Party.
6. The right-wing party established by Fortuyn in the run-up to
the 2002 parliamentary elections continued its existence under the same name after his death.
7. This MoP is a fellow party member of the MoP who initiated the debate in September 2003.
8. According to the official report of this debate in the Lower
Chamber, the MoP in question actually says 'the lowest
point on the European labour market' instead of 'the lowest
drain' as the newspapers quoted. The Dutch words for point
(punt) and drain (put) are very similar, implying either that
Parliament's stenographer or a recording journalist could
have misheard it. In either case, the word 'drain' indisputably adds a dramatic flavour to the statement (http://parlando.sdu.nl, 2003).
9. Brabant and Limburg are Dutch provinces (or, in EU terminology, NUTS II regions). In May and June of each year,
between 3000 and 6000 (estimations vary) immigrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe, especially from Poland, visit these provinces in order to work in agriculture or
construction. Asparagus cultivation in Brabant and Limburg
is particularly well known for attracting seasonal migration.
10. The following jobs and sectors are appointed: international
truck drivers in transport, sailors and helmsmen in inland
shipping, operating room assistants, radiotherapy/diagnostic
laboratory attendants in healthcare, and boners and butchers
in the slaugthering industry. In the last days prior to enlargement, labour market access is extended to include seasonal
workers (up to two months) in agriculture.

102

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