School of Social and Political Science

Description

The BRIDGES project, funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, aims to understand the causes and consequences of migration narratives in the context of increased politicisation and polarisation in many European countries in recent years. 

A diverse consortium of institutions, including the University of Edinburgh, is involved in the project. 

BRIDGES Work Package 7 was led the University of Edinburgh’s Professor Christina Boswell and Dr Saskia Smellie. 

This work package conducts a comparative analysis on six European countries – France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – over a ten-year period. 

It focuses on how migration narratives – the stories people tell about the causes and impacts of migration – shape and are deployed in political debate and policymaking.

A key contribution of this research is the development of an innovative new approach to trace how migration narratives are taken up in different political and policy settings and how governments respond to narratives that emerge in the public debate. 

Six working papers were produced as part of this work package – one based on each case study country – along with a concept note, a comparative report and a policy brief written by Christina Boswell and Saskia Smellie.

• Concept note

• Comparative report

• Policy brief

Policy brief on the impact of narratives on policymaking at the national level

The policy brief compiles the conclusions of the six working papers and aims to foster facts-based rather than emotions-based policymaking.
 

Key findings:
 

1. Immigration is not as salient as it once was.

• Research suggests that the public is less concerned about immigration as one of the most important issues facing their respective country than a decade ago.
   

2. Public opinion on immigration has remained relatively stable or become more positive over time.
    
3. Increased political salience of immigration engendered more lay (including populist) narratives. 

• Political salience is associated with more extensive media coverage.
• Political debate was polarised and fragmented in the case of the 2015 migration crisis, which was the subject of a wide range of narratives.
• In contrast, the relative consensus that existed on responses to the invasion of Ukraine resulted in fewer narratives. As the provision for refugees was less contested or contentious, it was less politicised. 
   

4. Media set the (humanitarian) narrative agenda.

• The analysis suggests that the media had a significant influence on political debate.
• In the cases examined in this study, contrary to most existing literature, media narratives did not steer governments in a more restrictive direction: instead, the media influenced governments to adopt a more humanitarian approach.
• The exceptions were Hungary and the UK, where media and political narratives were more closely aligned.
   

5. Most divisive and populist narratives emerged in political debate.

• In most countries, overtly populist positions were more likely to be associated with political parties rather than the media.
• There is also examples of politicians shaping, responding to and strategically deploying media narratives to bolster their political positions and foreground their track record.
   

6. Political debate and policy-making venues are not narratively distinct.

• Beyond the predicted difference in narrative styles, there is no significant difference in narrative content between public political debate and policy settings.
• In most of the countries analysed, the media and political debate were already largely aligned in their goals, and these were, in turn, broadly consistent with government policy.
   

Further publications

Other publications produced by Professor Christina Boswell and Dr Saskie Smellie within the framework of the project.
 

• The emergence, uses and impacts of narratives on migration
• Migration narratives in media and social media: the case of the UK
• The impact of narratives on political debate and policymaking in the UK

Visit the BRIDGES project website

BRIDGES project

Assessing the production and impact of migration narratives: BRIDGES key findings - Read more

VIDEO: BRIDGES Final Conference - Discussing migration narratives' policy and societal implications - Watch here