Migration, Communication and Activism: Experiences and Debates – Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies Vol. 11 No. 2 (2024)

6 de January, 2025 | Chisoka Simões | Publication

Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies Vol. 11 No. 2 (2024) – Migration, Communication and Activism: Experiences and Debates

This thematic issue, organised by Isabel Macedo, Rosa Cabecinhas and Susana de Andrés brings together a set of contributions from a diversity of disciplinary perspectives and geographical contexts to the debate on migration, communication and activism. Film festivals, films, digital platforms, cultural expressions, digital social movements, museum transformations and policies for access to higher education are some of the topics under debate, always dialoguing with migrations, the decolonial debate and the processes of resistance. Although there is indeed a growth in scientific production on the representation of migration in the media and the political, social, economic and cultural consequences of migratory processes, studies on the participation of migrants and racialised people in media production are much scarcer.

Migration, Communication, and Activism: Perspectives and Critical Reflections

[excerpt] According to data from the Agência das Nações Unidas para os Refugiados (United Nations Refugee Agency; https://pacnur.org/pt), it is estimated that there are approximately 120 million people in situations of forced mobility in the world. These populations are forced to leave their regions of origin due to situations of violence, armed conflicts, persecution, systematic human rights violations and/or in response to the impacts of climate change. Forced immobility as a result of protracted conflicts also affects millions of people, significantly restricting access to essential goods and, in many cases, constituting a kind of ‘open-air prison’ with devastating consequences. The impossibility of escape or mobility in conflict scenarios perpetuates a cycle of suffering, making opportunities for reconstruction and sustainable human development impossible. In a speech at Oranienplatz, Berlin, Angela Davis (2022) highlighted that “when you think about classifications like ‘immigrant’ or ‘refugee’, you tend to think of them as definitions inherent to the person, but they don’t represent individuals. They don’t represent groups. They don’t represent communities. They represent State regulated relations of governance” (00:29:52). This statement is particularly poignant when considering the challenges humanity faces today. The traditional definition of a “migrant” — as someone who voluntarily leaves their country — is obsolete, particularly when a significant portion of forced migrants are neither eligible for nor classified under “refugee” status, leaving them in a limbo of impossibility.

Reference:

Macedo, I., Cabecinhas, R., & de Andrés, S. (2024). Migration, Communication, and Activism: Perspectives and Critical Reflections. Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies11(2), e024021. https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.6095

Emerging Perspectives: An Overview of Alternative Digital Media and Migrant and/or Racialised People in Portugal

Alternative digital media form part of an effervescent movement to create media organisations, offering an important counterpart to the tendency to concentrate information production within a few institutional conglomerates. In Portugal, while these media outlets have gained prominence in academia, there are still few studies addressing the issue from the perspective of migrants and/or racialised people. In order to address this gap and provide an in-depth overview of the digital alternative media ecosystem in Portugal concerning these social groups, this article presents discussions informed by analyses based on a mapping of digital alternative media related to migration and/or racialised people. Various aspects are examined, such as the relationship between their foundation and the historical and social contexts in Portugal over the last few decades, the challenges of operating with small teams, and the problems associated with adopting different funding strategies. Thus, this analysis contributes to a critical discussion of pressing issues that shape the debate on the role and significance of the participation of this underrepresented group of the population in the media in Portugal. The goal is to foster a more inclusive, diverse and representative media ecosystem that reflects the country’s social and cultural diversity. It offers a critical examination of the role and significance of involving this segment of the population in the media in Portugal, aiming to promote a media ecosystem that is more inclusive, diverse, and representative of the country’s social and cultural diversity.

Reference:

Posch, P., Correia Borges, G., Simões, C., & Cerqueira, C. (2024). Emerging perspectives: An overview of alternative digital media and migrant and/or racialised people in Portugal. Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies, 11(2), e024015. https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.5748