A study of inclusion/exclusion social relations within today's migration phenomenon inspired by the social representations theory

Persecution, conflicts and poverty have throughout history forced people to abandon their homes in search of a better life. Sadly, this phenomenon has recently increased dramatically and the world is witnessing today its highest levels of displacement ever recorded with all the connected humanitarian critical implications. In our theoretical and methodological perspective, inspired by the Social Representations Theory, we aim to investigate the processes of social inclusion/exclusion in relation to contemporary intergroup relations within the context of migration. Our research plan accounts for the complexity of interactions considering both “media” and “field” studies, analysing different sources from “scientific”, institutional, and “common people” discourses on migration, and designing specific tools for data acquisition. These instruments will allow to detect symbols, social memories, national, supranational and personal identities, cultural-normative expectations, and iconic-imaginary representations within the migration phenomenon set in a world map landscape where a “space-place” is not simply geographical but a “geo-cultural context” involving different social actors in the country of origin and host communities (migrants, policy makers, institutions, civil society, etc…). At this stage of our study, initial results on the social discourses analysed through the media research line will be presented, and tools and methodologies being applied shown.