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Echoes of Empire: racism and historical amnesia in the British media coverage of migration

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  • Ewa Połońska-Kimunguyi

    (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Abstract

This paper looks at how the British media addressed the issue of migration in Europe between 2015 and 2018, four years when the topic was high on news and political agendas, due to the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ and the UK’s debate on Britain’s relationship with the European Union and free movement of people. Based on a sample of 400 articles from two national newspapers, The Guardian and The Times, the paper compares the content and discourse between the left-wing and right-wing press. The paper argues that media representations turn refugees into ‘migrants’ and portray them as either a threat to the national economy and security or as passive victims of distant circumstances. The study historicizes these media narratives and reveals that the discourse they employ advances the racialised mix of knowledge and historical amnesia and reproduces the age-old hierarchies of the colonial system which divided humans into superior and inferior species. Migrant voice is largely missing from the coverage. History, that could explain the causes of ‘migration’, the distant conflicts and Britain’s role in them, is also nowhere to be found. The paper considers the exclusion of history and migrant voices from stories told to the British audience and reflects on their domestic and international implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Ewa Połońska-Kimunguyi, 2022. "Echoes of Empire: racism and historical amnesia in the British media coverage of migration," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-021-01020-4
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-01020-4
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    1. Eelco Harteveld & Joep Schaper & Sarah L. De Lange & Wouter Van Der Brug, 2018. "Blaming Brussels? The Impact of (News about) the Refugee Crisis on Attitudes towards the EU and National Politics," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 157-177, January.
    2. Sniderman, Paul M. & Hagendoorn, Louk & Prior, Markus, 2004. "Predisposing Factors and Situational Triggers: Exclusionary Reactions to Immigrant Minorities," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(1), pages 35-49, February.
    3. Prem Kumar Rajaram, 2018. "Refugees as Surplus Population: Race, Migration and Capitalist Value Regimes," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 627-639, September.
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