Asylum Seeker Narratives and Policy Discourse
Summary
Asylum seeker narratives and policy discourse constitute a dynamic field of study that examines how stories, metaphors and framings shape public perception and legislative responses to forced migration. Central to this work is the analysis of language employed by governments, media and advocacy groups to construct the figure of the asylum seeker—ranging from vulnerable refugee to economic burden—and to legitimise or contest specific policy measures. Scholars explore the interplay between top-down policy imaginaries and bottom-up testimonial accounts, revealing how discursive strategies influence access to rights, social integration and the boundaries of humanitarian solidarity. At the global level, these debates inform debates on border control, international protection and the ethics of hospitality, while locally they shape practices of dispersal, accommodation and community reception. By mapping the interconnections between narrative frames, institutional logics and lived experience, researchers aim to foster more equitable and evidence-based approaches to asylum governance and to highlight the human impact of policy choices.
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Asylum Seeker Narratives and Policy Discourse publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in asylum seeker narratives and policy discourse across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Discourse analysis: A methodological approach that examines how language and communication practices construct social realities and relationships of power.
Policy imaginary: A conceptual framework or narrative that policymakers use to simplify complex phenomena and guide the formulation of specific policy measures.
Hostile environment: A set of immigration and asylum policies designed to deter or complicate the presence of asylum seekers through legal, social and economic restrictions.
Depoliticisation: The process by which political issues are reframed as technical or managerial problems, thus limiting public contestation and debate.
Asylum dispersal: A policy mechanism for distributing asylum seekers across different regions or localities, often intended to manage capacity and integrate services.
References
- “In Wales … we do things differently”. The politics of asylum dispersal in the UK and emerging national (self-) imaginaries of hospitality in Wales. Political Geography (2023).
- Privatising asylum: neoliberalisation, depoliticisation and the governance of forced migration. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2016).
- ‘Just eating and sleeping’: asylum seekers’ constructions of belonging within a restrictive policy environment. Critical Discourse Studies (2018).
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