BRIDGES: Assessing the production and impact of migration narratives

Governance

Funding

Horizon Europe

Geographic focus

France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom

Dates

01 March 2021 –

29 February 2024

About

A systematic mapping of how governments respond to populist narratives. 

Key Findings

  • Migration narratives become dominant and shape attitudes and behaviours when they resonate with individuals’ emotions and feelings. In particular, personal testimonies have a strong capacity to influence how we feel and think about immigration.
  • Successful narratives should also align with individual empirical knowledge and widely shared local and cultural perceptions. EU-funded information campaigns in countries of origin and transit, for example, have little ability to influence potential migrants’ decisions to migrate. This results from the mismatch between the narratives the campaigns promote and dominant local narratives.
  • Politicians are the primary messengers of narratives. In contrast, immigrants or people on the move rarely find themselves as narrators. 
  • ‘Windows of opportunities’ are critical factors in a narrative’s success. For instance, a perceived “crisis” or a discussion around a new law can potentially lead to new and transformative narratives or reinforce existing ones.
  • The more an issue is politicised, the more political discourse shapes and is shaped by media narratives. 

Highlighted Publications

  • Key Findings – insights into the production and impact of migration narratives
  • Policy Brief – the impact of narratives on potential migrants’ decisions 
  • Policy Brief – the impact of narratives on EU policymaking 
  • Policy Brief – the impact of narratives on policy-making at the national level

Highlighted Tools

Visit the website

Coordinator

Blanca Garces Mascarenas, Senior Research Fellow and Research Coordinator, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) 

Partners

  • Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)
  • Forum Internazionale ed Europeo di Ricerche sull’Immigrazione (FIERI)
  • University of Edinburgh (UEDIN)
  • Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
  • Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
  • Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz (CUAS Mainz)
  • Por Causa
  • Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po)
  • Centre for Social Sciences (TK)
  • Institute for Social Research (ISF)
  • Zona

Contacts

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