[Commlist] CFP: Edited Volume “Anti-migration contemporary narratives in America and Europe”

*CFP. *Edited Volume* “Anti-migration contemporary narratives in America 
and Europe” *for Edward Elgar’s Conflict, Security, and Migration series.

David Ramírez Plascencia (Universidad de Guadalajara, México) and Sonia 
Parella Rubio (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain) invite 
abstracts for the edited collection “*Anti-migration contemporary 
narratives in America and Europe,*” which will be submitted to Edward 
Elgar Publishing. The publisher has already expressed great interest in 
the project.

By the mid-2010s, the media, governments and local populations in Europe 
began to acknowledge the concrete dimensions of the migratory influx 
originating from Africa and the Middle East into member states of the 
European Union. According to data from the International Organization 
for Migration (IOM), within a five-year period (2015-2020), the migrant 
population in Europe increased by approximately 16%, rising from 75 
million to 87 million individuals. Across the Atlantic, during the same 
period, perhaps with less international visibility, a comparable 
migratory and humanitarian crisis was emerging. Large-scale movements of 
Venezuelans, Cubans, and Haitians, combined with the traditional 
migratory flows from Central America and Mexico, started departing their 
communities en masse, seeking to escape economic collapse, political 
repression, and widespread insecurity. While their primary destination 
was the US-Mexican border, trying to reach the “American Dream,” in 
recent years, with the arrival of Donald Trump to his second term, 
entering the US has become even more difficult, therefore millions of 
Latin American migrants are relocating in neighboring countries such as 
Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile, creating new diverse migration 
patterns. By now, according to a recent United Nations report (2024), of 
the nearly 138 million displaced persons worldwide, approximately 17% 
reside in Latin America.

Besides their palpable differences, the migration flows in Europe and 
America share strong similarities. Both phenomena have spread within a 
highly mediated and socially polarized context, characterized by the 
widespread use of digital media, economic recessions, and a growing 
political polarization over key public issues. These migration movements 
have also emerged, and can be partly explained, by political 
instability, armed conflicts, the economic crises, and the effects of 
climatic change in various countries across Latin America, Africa and 
the Middle-East, where social and political turmoil has forced 
displacements and cross-border movements toward the wealthier countries.

Moreover, the mediatization of contemporary migration processes has 
contributed to the strengthening of far-rightmovements 
and politicians in the United States, Europe and even in Latin America. 
These actors have focused their agendas on a discourse of suspicion and 
hostility towards migrants and refugees, who are often stigmatized as 
scapegoats and portrayed as sources of social disorder and economic 
hardship. In mainstream media, migrants are frequently depicted as 
criminals or social burdens who threaten local employment and social 
stability. This discourse is routed by far-right political parties 
through social media (X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) 
which have become their main spaces for communication and 
propaganda. These parties have become successful in engaging the 
young electorate by appealing to concerns about immigration and 
the struggle for a “traditional” national identity.

Social media enables the spread of hate speech due to structural 
characteristics, such as potential anonymity, low-cost, flexibility and 
global reach. Social media, along with the irruption of fake news and 
social polarization, promote the irruption of digital echo chambers 
where information is shared within ideologically homogeneous groups in 
Telegram and WhatsApp, reinforcing the impact of hostile and polarized 
narratives. This process contributes to radicalization and social 
division even in democratic societies.

The main goal of this volume is to analyze, from a critical and 
comparative approach, the anti-migration narrative caused by the 
allocation flows in both continents in the last decade. Understanding 
this anti-migration narrative is essential for identifying, promoting, 
and developing alternate narratives that can contribute positively to 
the integration of migrants and foster greater social cohesion.

We are particularly interested in the following topics: (a) The 
political anti-narrative of migration (migration as a topic in the 
electoral campaigns, weaponization of refugees, migrants as scapegoats, 
etc.), (b) Media coverage and framing of the migration flows. How the 
media encourages hate discourse among the people, and (c) social media 
and anti-migrant hate discourse. How spaces such as Facebook or TikTok 
promote the creation and dispersion of content that promotes hate 
discourse towards migrants in both continents.

You are warmly invited to send an extended abstract of 500 words, please 
also include a brief bio for every author (no more than 250 words with 
titles, affiliations, and contacts). Send your proposal to the following 
addresses: (davidram /at/ udgvirtual.udg.mx) 
<mailto:(davidram /at/ udgvirtual.udg.mx)>and (sonia.parella /at/ uab.cat) Please feel 
free to contact the editors if you have any questions.

**

*Deadline April 19, 2026.*

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