Date of Award

8-2020

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Conflict Resolution

First Advisor

Jeffrey Pugh

Second Advisor

Luis F. Jiménez

Third Advisor

Eben Weitzman

Abstract

Colombia is an underdeveloped country that has little experience as a host country of migrants. The massive arrival of Venezuelans has sparked a number of social concerns. Currently, Colombia is the largest recipient of Venezuelans in the world, with 1.5 million Venezuelans. The lack of regulatory migration policies and programs or institutions that support migration processes makes this phenomenon more difficult at a large scale. However, the Colombian government has made efforts to support the Venezuelan population, which have been contested by some Colombian citizens. State actors, non-state actors, and Colombian citizens have all been forming and developing a range of narratives that can welcome, stigmatize, dehumanize, or value these migrants. For this reason, this thesis aims to describe the characteristics of the dominant narratives in Colombia related to the migratory discourse as a tool of understanding the internal conflicts related to integration, identity, belonging, and negotiation that has been deployed within this migratory phenomenon in Colombia. This thesis thus contributes to the conflict resolution and securitization literature on migration in Colombia as a relatively new phenomenon, by providing an analysis of this narrative. The present work includes qualitative and quantitative research, with descriptive scope, with reference to migratory narratives in Colombia. Quantitative research includes the content analysis of 80 television videos from local news in Colombia on migration over the last 5 years. The quantitative analysis allows, first, the exposure of the types of messages that are transmitted in the television news and the way in which migrants are being framed by the media, such as victims, villains, heroes, and strategic actors. Second, the analysis of the television news identifies characteristics of the dominant narratives that could create social boundaries. On the other hand, the content of the qualitative research allows for the analysis of 20 interviews conducted with Colombian citizens, who are adult residents of working age in the city of Bogotá, exposing subjective perspectives and opinions regarding migration. The qualitative analysis allows: first, the identification of the type of dominant narratives in which the participants are framing migrants; second, a distinction between the similarities and differences of the content of the dominant narratives that were found on TV news and in interviews within each population. This shows the power of narrative as a social construction that affects the integration of migrants, and also shows the importance of personal interactions with immigrants in shaping which narratives resonate.

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