Проект в Европе борется с праворадикальными нарративами о мигрантах через сбор личных историй

How have you seen the media landscape changing over the last 10 years in the representation of migrants and refugees? Skodo: That’s a great question, because it's crucial to look at how migrants are represented in light of broader historical shifts. The far right now shapes migration policy in many European countries. It governs in Italy and the Netherlands, sustains government in Sweden, and polls at historic highs in Germany. A term like “remigration,” which was fringe in 2017, is now used by sitting ministers. The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which member states started implementing this month, has institutionalized and normalized a logic of racialized containment and deportation. Mainstream press across much of Europe is no longer a sleeping watchdog but an active site of narrative production aligned with these shifts. Moreover, today, narratives are constructed across a fragmented yet interconnected ecosystem. Far-right alternative media has a large readership. Its narratives are then amplified on platforms like Telegram, X, and TikTok. Mainstream press picks up these narratives, politicians across the political spectrum pick them up, and then the narratives feed back into mainstream media as “reality.” What are the most urgent issues in terms of the narratives around migrants and refugees in Europe? Skodo: Ultimately, I think anti-migrant narratives are symptoms of, and deflections from, more fundamental problems, not least the erosion of European welfare states and civil rights, the absurd concentration of wealth, economic exploitation, and similar issues. Migrants are perfect scapegoats for these problems, because they usually lack the means to challenge how powerful actors instrumentalize them. To achieve a society where the rights to movement, housing, education, healthcare, and work are genuinely universal, we must fundamentally change how our societies, economies, and politics operate. I suspect migrants would be a non-issue in narratives and representations if we achieved an egalitarian society. Given all this, the most urgent issue for me is actually building concrete and engaging narratives that envision an egalitarian global society where free movement of people is normal. To do that, we can draw on several existing free movement schemes and global traditions of thought. Many of these schemes were widely considered ridiculous when conceived but became commonplace once they became reality; the Schengen zone is the obvious example in Europe. Politicians and opinion-makers in Western Europe were terrified that poor Eastern Europeans would flood into countries like Germany, France, and Sweden, take advantage of their welfare systems, and undermine their culture... sound familiar? Now, over 30 years later, can you imagine the European Union or Europe without Schengen and its expansion? Of course, Schengen isn't tied to a broadly egalitarian vision of Europe, but it shows that schemes for the mass free movement of people already exist, work, and can be used in a bigger narrative. Would you please describe the aim of the project, and outline how it will be approached? Skodo: The project contests the dominant far-right narrative about European multicultural neighbourhoods by combining three elements: a synthesis of existing research on how the contemporary media landscape constructs these neighbourhoods; fieldwork in Rosengård in Malmö, and volunteer-led story collection in San Salvario in Turin and Neukölln in Berlin to surface firsthand counter-narratives from residents themselves; and a sustained communications strategy to bring this synthesis and these voices to policymakers, opinion-makers, clergy, and community leaders. The project's purpose is to undermine the “multicultural neighbourhood is bad” narrative that justifies much restrictionist policy by lifting up the more nuanced picture residents themselves provide - challenges and opportunities, beauty and difficulty, the everyday lives of real people that categorical framings make invisible. Hopefully, the stories that emerge from this research can inform the more capacious narratives I mentioned above. How do you think churches can be involved in impacting the media narratives? Skodo: I think that churches already have larger narratives concerning meaning, ethics, rights, dignity, and truth that could be inserted more prominently into public debates and opinion-making. Many churches have large networks and access to media venues (including social media) with large, diverse audiences. I think they can more aggressively pursue or resource campaigns across the media landscape that combat blatant falsehoods, bear witness to injustices and suffering, and, maybe most importantly, present a vision for why migration is an integral part of Christian faith and the human condition.