A chapter written by Department of Politics and International Affairs Associate Professor Alexander Caviedes has been published in “Migration and the Crisis of the Modern Nation State,” by Vernon Press, edited by Frank Jacob and Adam Luedtke of City University of New York.
The edited volume analyzes the relationship between modern nation states and immigration, tracing the history of conceptualizing migration in terms of “crisis” before presenting a series of case studies of international migration ranging from the Middle East to Europe.
Dr. Caviedes’s chapter, “The Press in Europe: Covering the Migrant Crisis or Generating Crisis?” examines how frequently the issue of asylum features within coverage of immigration in newspapers from France, Germany and the United Kingdom, with attention to changes over time. The study indicates that while in France and Germany, the frequency of mention of asylum accurately reflects actual trends in the numbers of applicants, but that the British press constructs a narrative that is largely independent of actual migration trends, thereby sensationalizing the issue. It also demonstrates that while asylum is a common issue, it is still less associated to migration less economic or integration issues.
Similar to other work by Caviedes, the chapter draws on an ongoing research project in collaboration with Fredonia students who review, code and summarize newspaper articles from five countries, spanning English, French, German, Italian and Spanish languages. The project comprises over one decade across 10 newspapers. It is an example of the dedication of Fredonia faculty to collaborate with students. The particular chapter integrates the work of the following current and former Fredonia students: Erin Bischoff, Nathaniel Clark, James Coughlin, Alex Ives, Zach Jones, Andrew Lent, Hannah Orsino, Joseph Orzechowski, Jason Pandich, Joseph Sienkewicz, Rebecca Thompson and Dylan Yetter, to whom Caviedes notes he is indebted.
Also in November, Caviedes presented the research paper “Diverging Narratives: Press Depictions of Migration in the U.S. and Europe” at an international conference at Stony Brook University on “The Challenges of Migration in North America: Comparing Policies and Models of Reception.”
