The Construction of Political Subjectivity: The Case of Immigrant Workers in Slovenia

Abstract

This article deals with the political subjectivation and desubjectivation of immigrant workers in Slovenia. It explores ontic and ontological views on their subjectivation by framing them in the socio-historical context of post-Yugoslavian migration dynamics. At the ontic level a Critical Discourse Analysis of media texts is presented showing how the political subjectivation and desubjectivation of immigrant workers is constructed in public discourse. The article explores discursive strategies of victimization, reification, animalisation and subjectivation. The article explores the notion of (de-)subjectivation at the ontological level using the Laclauian logic of naming to explore the political representation process.