ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 considers the GI-groups’ collective action frames and collective identity frames in the 2015–2017 period, focusing on their views on third-country (Muslim) immigrants, Europe, the EU, and European identity. The chapter shows that GI diagnoses both Muslim mass-immigration and the liberal, pro-migrant elites as great threats to the European autochthonous population. As a prognosis, the groups call for a stop to (Muslim) immigration to and inside Europe, entailing both the closure of the internal and external EU borders and the instigation of a process of ‘remigration’, while also wanting to prod a reinvigoration of the ‘love for one’s own country’. These constructions are also visible in the groups’ shared collective identity frames, which evolve around references to a common pan-European past, particularly in terms of battling the Muslim Ottomans. While these frames involve a portrayal of themselves as the current defenders of the European continent, culture, and identity, the GI-groups first and foremost understand their identities as regional and/or national, but also European, enabling them to jointly ‘battle’ the perceived threats and challenges.
