Media, communication technologies and forced migration: Promises and pitfalls of an emerging research field

Abstract

In this article, we identify some of the main axes structuring the emergent research field of ‘Media, communication technologies and forced migration’, whose development has been greatly stimulated by the so-called European ‘migration crisis’. In consonance with the cross-cutting theme of this Special Issue, we study more specifically, concentrating mainly on the European context, how, within this research field, media and communication technologies have been represented either as contributing to the building of symbolic borders or, on the contrary, as tools facilitating the circumvention of symbolic and territorial borders. Basing our argument on some of the main works that have given shape to this research field, we assess – with no claim for exhaustiveness – some of the latter’s main contributions and limitations.