The migration-terrorism nexus: An analysis of German and Italian press coverage of the 'refugee crisis'

Over the last few years, terrorist attacks in European cities, together with the so-called 'refugee crisis', have (re)ignited a debate on whether there is an association between the two issues. Drawing on sociological approaches to risk and uncertainty, I claim that the discursive construction of causal linkages connecting refugees and migrants to terrorist activities is a fundamental passage in the process of social construction of migration as a threat. To identify the terrorism-migration linkages constructed in/through the media, this article examines the coverage of migration issues in two Italian and two German newspapers in 2015 and 2016, combining computer-assisted and qualitative content analysis. My findings reveal, firstly, how and in what circumstances the discourse on the terrorism threat is conflated with the discourse on migration. Then, the in-depth analysis of causal links in the coverage of four main terror attacks in Europe shows the predominance of a chain of causation linking terrorism to new migrants and refugees. Given the limited empirical research informing the debate over the migration-terrorism nexus, this study contributes to a better understanding of the process of social construction of migrants as threat objects.

Automated summary

The article explores the discourse on the relationship between terrorism and migration in European cities, and reveals how the media constructs causal linkages between the two issues. Through an analysis of media coverage in Italian and German newspapers, the study uncovers the predominance of a chain of causation linking terrorism to new migrants and refugees.