Justice Claims in UK Media Narratives: Normative Orientations and EU Migration Governance

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is generally agreed that a massive influx of foreigners into a country is not only a social issue to be understood and managed, but also something that prompts strong sentiments and moral qualms. By associating the narratives that emerged recently in UK mainstream media, through which the British public ‘made sense of’ (im)migration, with specific conceptions of justice, it is possible to discern the normative premises of the country’s response to (exceptional) movements of people within the EU migration system of governance. Remarkably, while migration narratives hinge to a large extent on the need to ‘take back control’ and ‘defend’ a threatened nation, the EU proves to be a problematic, yet very salient component of Britain’s debate on immigration, which could continue even after the latter’s progressive detachment from the Union.