To understand how facts turn into narratives and narratives into individual and collective responses, BRIDGES focuses on the causes and consequences of migration narratives, looking not only at migration narratives as such but also and particularly at the processes behind. With this purpose, the concept of ‘Migration Narrative Success’ was coined.
BRIDGES looked at the processes behind narrative production and impact. As for narrative production, it examined how narratives develop in media and social media. An in-depth study across six countries – Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and UK – was conducted. The goal was not only to identify common narratives but also to explore what circumstances favour the emergence of certain narratives, how these spread, and which storytellers are key. News and posts from different outlets and social media platforms were analysed, focusing on arrivals and migration crises, debates on migrants’ rights and citizenship, and terror attacks. The project also looked at the role of alternative voices and their capacity to challenge, bunker or displace exclusionary narratives, highlighting key narratives as well as those who develop and foster them, in Germany, Italy and Spain. A mapping of organisations was conducted, and 6 initiatives were analysed in depth.
As for narrative impact, BRIDGES analysed how narratives determine individual attitudes and policy responses. The project conducted two online social psychological experiments in Spain and Hungary. The results provided revealing insights that can help us better understand the lives of migrants, transform our attitudes, and bridge the gap between different points of view. The project also looked at the impact of EU-funded information campaigns on the decision-making processes of potential migrants. The case studies were potential migrants in the Gambia and Afghan migrants in Istanbul, Turkey. The results show that the EU-funded narratives struggle to exert influence in light of the dominant narratives on migration and Europe.
The project also looked at how narratives shape policy responses. A key question in this case was whether narratives in public political debate and policymaking diverged and what this meant in terms of policy responses. At the national level, research was conducted in six countries (France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and UK) on the 2015 European ‘migration crisis’, and on the Ukrainian refugee crisis following Russia’s invasion in 2022. At the EU level, the research focused on the debate around the opportunity to introduce a relocation scheme during the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015 and the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive for those fleeing the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022.
Furthermore, BRIDGES aimed to contribute to the co-creation of alternative textual and visual narratives together with CSO as well as artistic and media actors, with particular attention to the inclusion of migrants’ voices. A Toolkit was produced with key rules for CSO on how to build alternative and more inclusive narratives with capacity to change public debates. Furthermore, the photojournalist exhibition Out of Frame, displayed in Rome, Madrid and Brussels, was organised to reflect on the role of photojournalism in reiterating or subverting dominant media narratives on migration. Finally, as part of BRIDGES Hip Hop contest, the rap song “El Extraño” was composed and a mural painted by a mural artist.
