Abstract

Entrenched by borders, citizenship is more than an affiliation with a nation denoted by birth or documentation – it can be an indication of belonging, identity and value. Nowhere is the nebulousness of citizenship more apparent than in the case of returning foreign ISIS fighters. This thesis undertakes analyses of the discussion of foreign fighters across three distinct, but closely related arenas, namely: Canadian news articles on foreign fighters between the years 2000-2016, two video clips featuring debates between the Prime Minister and Members of Parliament on the topic, and comments posted in response to two CBC News articles. This thesis explores how these different permutations of news media become sites of contestation, wherein key players - journalists, politicians and the Canadian public - negotiate, oppose or align with the discourse of rehabilitation and reassimilation. Framing the act of leaving and re-entering Canada’s borders as treason, some propose solutions that are diametrically opposed to rehabilitation, namely, containment (via imprisonment), expulsion (via deportation) or annihilation. Ultimately, this thesis uncovers how the mediatization of returning foreign fighters sparks discussions that reignite nationalistic moral panic, whereby the boundaries of national belonging become tightened when Canada’s body politic is threatened.