Migration and Communication in the Planetary Era: Debates and Actions

Abstract: This book brings together a diverse set of studies and critical reflections on migration and communication, based on debates originating from the international conference “Migration and Communication in the Planetary Era: Debates and Actions,” held in Braga in April 2025. This conference marked the conclusion of the MigraMediaActs project, whose aim was to create a space to question, rethink, and reconstruct community pathways through communication in a fragmented and polarized planetary context marked by deep inequalities.

Across 15 chapters, drawn from papers presented at the conference and subjected to peer review, this collection gathers contributions from authors from different fields of knowledge and geographical backgrounds, addressing a wide range of topics. These include debates on migration policies and human rights; electronic surveillance procedures at borders and automated profiling assisted by so-called artificial intelligence; the dynamics of digital platforms and the impact of automated datafication systems; representations of migration and migrants in journalistic discourse; the participation and agency of migrants and other minoritized groups in the media; and other issues related to migrants’ connectivity and access to information in digital contexts, as well as disputes surrounding hate speech and xenophobia.

From a perspective that values linguistic and cultural diversity, each chapter in this volume is presented in the language chosen by its authors. By integrating empirical research and critical analysis, this book positions itself not only as a thematic collection but also as a political gesture that questions who has the right to speak, who is listened to, and who is treated merely as a statistic. In this way, it highlights the role of communication both in reproducing colonial hierarchies and inequalities and in creating spaces of resistance and producing counter-narratives.

Reference: Cabecinhas, R., Lins, L., & Macedo, I. (Eds.). (2026). Migrações e comunicação na era planetária: Debates e ações. UMinho Editora. https://doi.org/10.21814/uminho.ed.196