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When over 1 million people arrived in Europe in 2015, many fleeing conflict and persecution at home, the situation was dubbed a migration crisis.
According to Michel Debruyne, senior advisor with Belgian social justice non-profit Beweging, this event has allowed populist politicians to reframe a refugee crisis as a crisis of Europe itself.
“Over the last decade, the migration debate has been characterised by ever more vocal and toxic disagreements about identity and democracy. Often exacerbated by malign actors within Europe and beyond,” says Debruyne, who coordinated the OPPORTUNITIES project.
To help policymakers navigate this situation, OPPORTUNITIES developed a pioneering approach that used storytelling techniques to foster a more inclusive discourse.
“Inspired by the economics metaphor of level playing fields, our notion of ‘level telling fields’ prioritises the strength of an argument over the volume of a voice,” explains project researcher Roy Sommer, a professor of English at the University of Wuppertal.
Speaking with migrants, not about them
To explore what could be achieved under fair dialogue principles of sincerity (with participants listening to others), and multiperspectivity (including many views), OPPORTUNITIES pioneered ‘Cross Talks’.
Migrants write their own personal stories to be read to an audience of people directly impacting their lives, such as politicians, journalists and social workers. Others, such as employers, shopkeepers and the general public are also present.
The stories are guided by narrative interviews conducted by the researchers, and include some standard questions covering the individual’s current living conditions and ultimate aspirations.
“Migrants are individuals, not statistics – with identities irreducible to precarious legal, political and economic status,” adds Debruyne.
After the readings, project mediators guided the groups, typically of around 15 people, in a discussion about the issues raised.
“We saw how honesty and emotive language generates a meaningful dialogue about achieving a fairer society. It was often revealed that migration itself was not the problem, but a lack of social investment in areas like housing and healthcare,” explains Sommer.
Cross Talks were organised across Europe and Africa. One event in Ghana brought together almost 100 international and national policymakers, migration experts, returned migrants and potential future emigrants.
Walking the talk across the stage
The team also brought the ‘level telling field’ metaphor to life on stage, with a touring play developed by the Royal Flemish Theatre.
“The play is based on the story of General Hannibal, would-be conqueror of Rome, standing as a metaphor for terminology often used in toxic migration debates, such as ‘overwhelming’ or ‘replacement’. We explore how perceptions and words about others can have devastating consequences,” notes Debruyne.
The production has toured Europe (visiting Brussels, Rotterdam, Barcelona and Italy, with Liège, Paris and Lisbon planned for this year) and Africa, visiting four cities in Senegal and two in Ghana. The Italy, Senegal and Ghana productions featured local actors and musicians, adapted to reflect local context.
Each participating country developed their own cultural products that bring Cross Talks to the screen.
A new integration narrative for better policies
According to Debruyne, a sustainable European migration policy must accept certain realities: people will continue to arrive legally and illegally in the EU, which has a legal duty of care to them based on core values. Consequently, policies should represent this, and not vested interests.
“Fair public debates should be applied to all controversial issues, not only migration, to support democratic pluralism and uphold ethical and legal norms. We recommend instigating level telling fields that track and trace distortions in public discourse, including fake news and hate speech,” remarks Sommer.
Sommer also recommends using the discussion of everyday racism from various Cross Talks to inform a study into migration policy in specific Member States, with the outcomes applicable to other countries.
He concludes: “In a sometimes xenophobic political climate, many people long for more nuanced conversation. Storytelling helps achieve this when participants are encouraged to leave their rhetorical comfort zones and see the world through the eyes of another.”