Abstract

Popular, political and media discourses frame the issue of migration and shape how and when it enters the public and political consciousness. These discourses are of crucial importance as they influence both the general public’s perception of migration and the policies which regulate both the act of migration itself and migrant residents.

Public and Political Discourses of Migration brings together an interdisciplinary group of established and emerging scholars, whose work interrogates the relationship between discourse and migration. Through the application of a variety of theoretical lenses drawn from the broad canon of discourse studies, each contribution unpicks the productive power of discourse in shaping the reality of migration, migration policy and migrant lives in the twenty-first century. The cases examined emerge, as do their authors, from a wide spectrum of national, political and cultural contexts. They are linked by their fundamental questioning of ‘common sense’ and ahistorical approaches to migration. They address the question of whose interests are served by prevailing discourses and the structures they underpin. Ultimately, they ‘make strange’ accepted ‘truths’ regarding migration in the twenty-first century.


From the perspective of social sciences in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe, an interesting feature of the book is its open and explicit positionality … Such a transparent approach can be exemplary in a region where social scientists still too often think or at least work under the premise that objectivity is always necessary, or even desirable … Whatever direction European migration debates and policies will be taking in the future, it is clear that the topic of refugees and migrants will need continued engagement by social scientists and others. In a climate of hardened debates, the present volume is an important a contribution.
Péter Balogh, Institute for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
This outstanding collection, skilfully edited with thematic clarity and analytic vision, is a major contribution to migration studies. Fusing intellectual gravitas with impressive political commitment, the book will serve as a benchmark for future analyses of the relationship between migration and the unsettling politics of representation, as well as an important and instructive resource for students new to the field.
Tom Slater, Reader in Urban Geography, University of Edinburgh
Amanda Haynes is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Limerick.

Martin J. Power is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Limerick.

Eoin Devereux is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Limerick.

Aileen Dillane is an ethnomusicologist based in the Irish World Academy at the University of Limerick.

James Carr is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Limerick.



Migration is certainly not a new phenomenon in our world. However, as this excellent volume illustrates in much detail, politics (in Europe and beyond) and related hegemonic discourses prefer constructing negative scenarios and creating fear of the ‘stranger’. In-depth case-studies provide much evidence that closing borders has become more important than the acknowledgement of a diverse globalized environment. Anybody interested in these most complex developments should read this outstanding book!
Ruth Wodak, Emeritus Distinguished Professor and Chair in Discourse Studies, Lancaster University
At the present moment in which migration has fully enveloped the global everyday, this book could not be more timely. The counterpoint of ethnography, discourse analysis, and critical theory draws the reader to the frontlines of the struggles to cross borders and fight racism, which increasingly form the worlds we all share with those in search of asylum and home.
Philip V. Bohlman, Mary Werkman Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the Humanities, The University of Chicago