A Critical Discourse Analysis of Birth Tourism Discourse in Canada

My thesis analyzes the implications of the growing influence of the anti- birth tourism movement and the subsequent construction of the “worthy” immigrant within Canada’s newspaper media. By dissecting local and national media coverage, I argue that media discourses surrounding the arrival and existence of pregnant Chinese migrants, commonly referred to as ‘birth tourists,’ have detrimental effects on the treatment of pregnant Chinese migrants. My media analysis explores how Canada’s media facilitates the narrative of pregnant Chinese migrants as problematic, illegal and undeserving immigrants who come to Canada for the wrong reasons. This is established through discursive strategies and lies in the narrow and Eurocentric understanding of sovereignty, membership, and race. For this reason, my thesis offers an alternative approach to understanding birth tourism discourse in Vancouver and Richmond, and highlights how these ongoing narratives are problematic.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Legal Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Rouse, Nasya Aileen

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2024 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, distribution to students, research and scholarship. Theses may only be shared by linking to the Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be copied without proper attribution to the author; no part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2024-16202

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/43048