The media of migration - migration and the media
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Media and Communications
Abstract
Massive drownings, unsafe boats and unaccompanied children reaffirmed that the Mediterranean Sea had become a graveyard in 2015. More that one million people escaped from their countries to seek shelter and better living and economic conditions.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000622/1 | 30/09/2017 | 29/09/2028 | |||
| 1927308 | Studentship | ES/P000622/1 | 23/09/2017 | 29/03/2021 | Afroditi-Maria Koulaxi |
| Description | The current project explores the process of identity-making through this critique of normative and pre-defined understanding of identities, one that allows the researcher to valorise the role of the media within a wider system of mediations. The overarching contribution/finding of this analysis is to argue that we cannot have fixed and pre-defined identities. Identities are hybrid and are always shaped from intercultural encounters in the city and the symbolic power of the media. This happens for two reasons. Firstly, processes of globalisation that lead to the continuing rise in migration make the city a space where citizens have intercultural encounters in everyday life; citizens constantly meet and mix with urban dwellers of different communities and cultures. Consequently, encounters (that can be either mediated or embodied) are historically and spatially located - they create specific dynamics within space and time. Secondly, media have different technologies and different engagements. Mediated encounters are themselves contradictory and conflicting because of the different narratives in traditional and social media as well as the mediated communication in everyday life. Preliminary findings include that: • The nature of individuals' media literacy is curtailed and subjected to racial and socio-cultural orders that justify discourses that are often completely contradictory to their (functional) literacy skills. • Individuals' cultural capital (including education and lifestyle) does not prevent them from circulating and believing misinformation and stereotypes that are being reproduced over time. • Individuals' awareness of power relations and asymmetries within the media does not necessarily equate with a media literacy that is duly conscious of the way people build their perceptions around established and recent arrivals of migrant populations. |
| Exploitation Route | Upon the completion of my project, I would like to share my findings with the Municipality of Athens and join them in an effort to include established and recent migrant populations (similar to the Integrated Communities Action Plan in the UK) in multicultural neighbourhoods of the city, such as the one my project addresses. Also, considering the majority of European citizens only encounters refugees and migrants on the screens (from traditional media such as TV and radio to social media platforms), there is an urgent need for journalists/reporters/citizens to realise that coverage defines imagination and practice (especially in cities that are now challenged through the arrival of refugee populations in their areas) |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Government Democracy and Justice |