Will the Italian right continue a pragmatic mitigation of its initially uncompromising anti-migrationist and sovereignist narrative? Or will it persist in an ambiguous mix of threat frames speaking to the guts and utilitarian arguments speaking to the wallet of the electorate? This op-ed by Ferruccio Pastore reflects on the structural constraints faced by Giorgia Meloni’s sovereignist migration narrative after she took power in October 2022.
Melilla, One More Step
The deaths at the Melilla border fence on 24 June 2022 are one more step, now because of the brutality of the images and the terms of justification afterwards. Building on previous narratives, they claim that traffickers are the real culprits, and migration is a threat to national security. Beyond all the words, what the facts reveal is that, to ensure fewer arrivals, Europe is willing to pay any price.
Conceptualising migration narratives
BRIDGES defines narratives as those attempts by actors to develop and convey plausible accounts and interpretations of a phenomenon, event or series of events, person or a group of persons. Narratives are not only simple descriptions. By definition, narratives are characterised by a certain degree of stability and consistency over time and/or across space.
The emergence, uses and impacts of narratives on migration
This Working Paper provides an overview of social science literature on narratives, with a particular focus on narratives on migration (MiNa), tracing the emergence of the concept in a range of social sciences, including sociology, political science, psychology and media studies.
