Narratives of Crisis and Their Influence in Shaping Discourses and Policies of Migration and Mobility

Inspired by different modes of immigration politics in liberal democracies that are related to solidarity, utilitarianism, and nationalism as drivers of migration narratives and policies, the project seeks to better understand the role of crisis narratives in the context of human mobility governance.

We use a mix of methods and work across disciplines to identify prevalent narratives of migration and mobility in countries with different migration regimes and observe how they evolve especially during economic, political, and public health crises. Moreover, the project will examine how narratives on migration and mobility, that have shifted, affect attitudes and social behavior (discrimination), political policies, and migration intentions, and what the implications of such narratives and narrative shifts are on democratic legitimacy, justice, and citizenship.

To do so, we develop a longitudinal cross-national dataset of narratives on migration and mobility in the media, carry out experiments in countries of origin and destination, use data from the NCCR Migration-Mobility Survey, and carry out historical studies to analyze the arguments of economic and public interest groups to develop a normative political theory.