HomeCrossed Perspectives on/with Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Words, Images and Discourses

Crossed Perspectives on/with Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Words, Images and Discourses

Regards croisés sur/avec les jeunes migrants isolés : paroles, images et discours

Miradas cruzadas sobre/con los jóvenes migrantes aislados: palabras, imágenes y discursos

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Published on Thursday, November 13, 2025

Abstract

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We are organizing this conference in order to reflect on the worlds of words, images, discourses, and opinions surrounding these young migrants, produced both by the young people themselves and by the influential actors of our societies. We will question the scope of these representational worlds and their capacity to offer real alternatives for understanding migration with regard to UM-FIM-YIM. It is also a matter of observing, through the prism of media discourse, the role of the state, institutions, and different associative actors in the management of these phenomena.

 

Announcement

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Argument

Questions of migration and exile (Lacroix, Daghmi, Dureau, Robin & Scioldo-Zürcher, 2020) regularly appear both in media productions and in current political debates (Joannon, Lenoël, Thiollet & Yavuz, 2022). Phenomena presented under the label of “migrant crisis” (Georgio & Zaborowski, 2017) or “immigration problems”, criticized by scholarly works that prefer the expression “reception crisis” (Lendaro, 2016; Menjivar, Ruiz & Ness, 2019), are constantly mobilized in public opinion following the “flows” and “reflows” of border crossings. The recurrent mobilization of the theme of migration in current events, in various facets, seeks to interpret events that shape the horizon of European seas and borders (Héran, 2017). Media discourses contribute to fueling increasingly restrictive and security-driven policies, and vice versa (Hollifield, Martin, Orrenius & Héran, 2022). Through the discourses produced and the opinions expressed (Gallup, 2020), rather than through quantitative realities, migration has become a major social issue that affects all individuals and social spheres.

Particularly since the second half of the 2010s, a new entry point has tended to become recurrent in the field of migration discourse, bringing unaccompanied minors (UM), foreign isolated minors (FIM), and other young isolated migrants (YIM) to the forefront of media and political attention. Consequently, the perspectives adopted in addressing themes related to these young people regularly appear in both regional and national news.

However, one must note the rarity of studies within the field of media representations of these young people. Publications have instead focused on the mechanisms and shortcomings of their protection (Bouagga, 2020; Carayon, Mattiussi & Vuattoux, 2018; Neyrat, 2020; Przybyl, 2019), on the conditions of reception and support (Pernin, 2018; Rigoni, 2021), including within educational settings (Lemaire, 2012; Mendonça Dias & Rigoni, 2020; Rigoni, 2023), or on psychological issues linked to migratory experiences (Sinanian & Robin-Poupard, 2018; Szikra, Radjack, Kokou-Kpolou, Baubet & Moro, 2019).

We are organizing this conference in order to reflect on the worlds of words, images, discourses, and opinions surrounding these young migrants, produced both by the young people themselves and by the influential actors of our societies. We will question the scope of these representational worlds and their capacity to offer real alternatives for understanding migration with regard to UM-FIM-YIM. It is also a matter of observing, through the prism of media discourse, the role of the state, institutions, and different associative actors in the management of these phenomena.

On the pedagogical level, the aim is to grasp the significance of the media and political issues arising from the dissemination and circulation of the various discourses on UM-FIM-YIM, as well as the narrative construction of migratory journeys and personal stories. Do the voices of UM-FIM-YIM conveyed through media productions contribute to counterbalancing the stereotypes and representations in circulation? Can we speak of the construction of a counter-narrative on migration? Can we, from the perspective of social workers, refer to counter-professional practices when the values of their professions are perceived as being undermined by legal institutions? Can associative or volunteer engagement be conceived not only as “commitment” to the cause of migrant children but also as a local and national counter-discourse?

Media studies show that media discourse and images tend to act as a “social mirror of the world” (Charaudeau, 2005), a translation of social facts and of the political, social, and economic stakes, and as mediators of public opinion. Thinking about the construction of public opinion on UM-FIM-YIM through the study of media coverage becomes a necessary step in identifying the sources of information available to citizens, elected officials, associative actors, and the general public concerning these young people.

Some research has revealed that the media reproduce dominant institutional representations of UM-FIM-YIM as a “new category of public action” (Bantsimba-Casrouge, 2016; Marmié, 2022), caught in the paradoxes of a category oscillating between “young migrants” to be protected or “foreigners” to be controlled. It is thus a matter of examining the issues related to the representations conveyed by press discourses concerning UM-FIM-YIM themes, in order to determine whether they contribute to consolidating stigmatizing stereotypes about these categories or whether they offer a more nuanced treatment, combining a distanced posture, a relay of public policies, and the narration of migratory trajectories that can at times be valorizing. In this sense, are there notable differences between national and regional coverage, or between generalist and specialized press?

Furthermore, research has shown that media coverage of immigration is dominated by “public order” and “humanitarian” issues (Benson, 2018). Caviedes (2015), through a comparative analysis of European newspapers, argues that media coverage of immigration is dominated by two types of framing, namely those of the economy and security. Consequently, divergences appear with other research that identifies the predominance of a “securitization” or “crimmigration” approach to the topic (Brouwer, van der Woude & van der Leun, 2017). Taking into account the different contexts, what do media representations reveal about UM-FIM-YIM over the past two decades? How can we understand the processes of media recognition and visibility of these individuals in migration, and their impact on the “social construction of representations of this public confronted with exile and isolation” (Damome, Déaux, Keller, Rigoni & Soubiale, 2023)?

Proposals may address issues related to the following axes (non-exhaustive list):

Axis 1: Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Media, Discourses and Representations

This first axis focuses on the processes of designation and categorization of unaccompanied foreign minors in the media (traditional or digital, mainstream or alternative). The proposed papers will aim to shed light on the mechanisms of visibility (or invisibility) of these young people in media discourses and images, and to question the representations thus disseminated about them in public opinion.

Several issues may be addressed here:

  • What media framings are adopted to cover their presence in France and/or Europe? Are they portrayed as any other category of migrants, or as “young people to be protected” under child protection systems? Do these designations evolve according to immigration laws (Nader & Boulos, 2018)?
  • Do the media favor sensationalism about them, especially around migratory tragedies, or do they also convey more specialized knowledge produced by field journalists and/or researchers? What fundamental questions about their real situation escape media coverage (Delescluse & Loum, 2019)?
  • How does the use of certain words and media images contribute to the stigmatization of these young people in public opinion?
  • Do alternative media help deconstruct the stereotypes present in some traditional outlets?

Axis 2: Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Journalism, Fieldwork and Sources of Information

There is a noticeable scarcity of studies on the conditions under which media representations of migration, and particularly of unaccompanied young migrants, are produced, despite existing research showing that the media reproduce certain dominant institutional representations of UM/FIM/YIM. Proposals may explore questions related to newsroom organization models, journalistic practices, the logic of source mobilization, the relationship to digital transition, economic models, and more. For example:

  • Have newsrooms located near areas of migratory flow organized their editorial work to give space to this issue through specific sections or by designating specialized journalists?
  • When covering life stories or living conditions, how do journalists proceed to promote a sensitive approach to UM/FIM/YIM? What sources do they rely on, and how do they access them?
  • To what extent do institutional sources influence editorial content and its orientation? Do certain framings, such as security, governmental obligations, training, and integration issues, depend more on some sources than others? Are these sources the origin of how the topic is framed?
  • Does the transition in editorial methods, due to multiple constraints such as digitization (Mercier & Pignard-Cheynel, 2014) and the reduction of financial resources characteristic of a new economic model of the print press, diminish journalistic coverage and fieldwork? Does it increase the distance from the field and reliance on press agencies? Does the shift toward online publication intensify sensationalist coverage and the dramatization of intimacy at the expense of more in-depth investigations?
  • A strong trend toward unsigned articles in coverage of this theme (Daghmi, Damome, Larrazet, Soubiale, 2025) can be observed, along with greater reliance on agency dispatches. Does this practice reveal a new organizational logic that re-examines proximity to the field? Does it foreshadow a transitional model responding to the evolution of available resources for on-site reporting?

Axis 3: Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Artistic and Sensitive Productions, Words and Self-Images

The third axis of the conference will be devoted to the methodological challenges posed by self-writing among unaccompanied young migrants, whatever its sensitive manifestations (diary writing, written or filmed notes, artistic productions, or visual works such as drawings, photographs, or films). What aspects of the migratory experience does self-writing allow or fail to reveal?

  • To better grasp what these forms of self-writing make perceptible, this axis will welcome proposals focusing on the conditions of production of such narratives. What motivates these young migrants to tell their stories? From what point of view do they express themselves? Do they engage in a personal initiative or, on the contrary, one accompanied by facilitators, educators, volunteers involved in associations defending migrants, psychologists, artists, or researchers? What effect does this collaboration have on self-expression? Does the “I” become a “we,” or does it instead carve out a distinctly personal voice?
  • We will also seek to understand how these young people take ownership of this self-writing by questioning the forms it takes. How do they turn toward a particular form of expression? How do they appropriate it or not? How do they play with it over time?
  • This axis will also examine what these forms allow or do not allow to be said or shown. In a context in which these young people are compelled to tell their stories before institutions and urged to integrate into the host society, how do they express and narrate themselves? How do these forms enable us to understand the worldview, practices, and experiences of these young migrants? What role does self-censorship play in this self-writing? What is left unsaid? As they learn the process of self-expression, do these staged forms make it possible to move beyond self-censorship?

Axis 4: Institutional, Professional and Associative Actors: Political Strategies, Discourses and Practices

This axis invites exploration of the political, discursive, and symbolic strategies and forms through which institutional, professional, and associative actors engage with the issue of unaccompanied young migrants. It seeks to understand how authoritative, evidentiary, and legitimizing discourses are developed, circulate, and transformed within the fields of law, public action, and social work. Contributions may, in particular, address the following:

  • The discursive construction of authority and public action: how institutions (departments, the state, independent administrative authorities such as the Defender of Rights, but also courts, ministerial circulars, parliamentary reports, etc.) articulate, frame, legitimize, and justify their action concerning unaccompanied young migrants. Attention may be given to institutional enunciation regimes (prescriptive, justificatory, technocratic, or compassionate discourse) and their performative power in producing categories of public action (“protection”, “control”, “vulnerability”, “threat”).
  • The tensions between institutional neutrality and political positioning, particularly when authorities act as both political and administrative bodies (for example, presidents of departmental councils, who may enjoy greater freedom of expression). One may observe, for instance, how discourse constructs an ethos of authority, neutrality, or even emotional engagement.
  • The orientations of associative discourses and practices, whether operating as public service delegates or independent organizations, whether in continuity with or in opposition to institutional actors, through critique, distancing, or circumvention.
  • The interdiscursive relationships established between institutional, professional, associative, and media discourses: how do different types of discourse (legal, administrative, associative, professional, media) echo, legitimize, or contradict one another? The objective here is to explain how institutional discourses stabilize or destabilize the category of unaccompanied young migrants by reproducing, reformulating, or contesting pre-existing statements produced in other spheres (media, associations, social workers, educators, court decisions, awareness campaigns).

Contributions within these different axes may combine discourse analysis, observation of practices, field studies, surveys, or comparative approaches. Studies based on authentic corpora (institutional and legal texts, reports, communiqués, charters, decisions, press articles), ethnographic research, comparative approaches, or action research are encouraged. Multidisciplinary approaches (information and communication sciences, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, law, political science, etc.) will promote a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of relationships between institutional actors, associations, and young migrants.

Calendar and Practical Information

Deadline for submitting paper proposals: texts of 3,000 characters, excluding a selective bibliography of 4 or 5 references, and including the author’s name, position, email address, and the number of the corresponding axis:

before January 9, 2026.

Proposals will be evaluated through a double-blind review process. They must be sent to the following address: p.cojemi@gmail.com

Notification of acceptance: January 31, 2026.

Conference languages: French, English, Spanish

Participation format

  • on-site participation will be prioritized
  • Accommodation: a list of hotels will be provided by the conference organizers

Scientific Committee

  • Olivier Clochard, Migrinter, CNRS
  • Chantal Crenn, University Paul Valéry of Montpellier, SENS
  • Fathallah Daghmi, University of Poitiers, Migrinter
  • Étienne Damome, University Bordeaux Montaigne, MICA
  • Marie-Hélène Hermand, University Marie and Louis Pasteur, Besançon, ELLIADD
  • Christine Larrazet, University of Bordeaux, Centre Émile Durkheim
  • Tristan Mattelart, University Paris Panthéon Assas, CARISM
  • Ndiaga Loum, University of Quebec in Outaouais, Chairholder of the Senghor Chair of Francophonie
  • Amal Nader, Catholic Institute of Paris
  • Anna Neyrat, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Centre Émile Durkheim
  • Élodie Razy, University of Liège, Institute for Research in Social Sciences, IRSS and LASC
  • Isabelle Rigoni, CY-INSEI, Grhapes, affiliated with MICA, the Émile Durkheim Center, and Migrinter
  • Eugénie Saitta, University of Rennes 1, Arènes
  • Daniel Senovilla, Migrinter, CNRS
  • Nadège Soubiale, University Bordeaux Montaigne, MICA
  • Simona Tersigni, University of Nanterre, Sophiapol
  • Agnès Villechaise, University of Bordeaux, Centre Émile Durkheim
  • Arthur Vuattoux, University Sorbonne Paris Nord, Iris

Organizing Committee

  • Anna Neyrat, UMR Centre Émile Durkheim
  • Céline Ségalini, Intervalles Films
  • Chantal Crenn, UMPV / UMR SENS
  • Christine Larrazet, Centre Émile Durkheim
  • Étienne Damome, MICA
  • Fathallah Daghmi, MIGRINTER
  • Isabelle Rigoni, Grhapes, affiliated with MICA
  • Léa Keller, UMR Passages
  • Marie-Hélène Hermand, ELLIADD
  • Nadège Soubiale, MICA
  • Patricia Mothes, UMR EFTS

Indicative Bibliography

Benson R. (2018). L'immigration au prisme des médias, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 312 p.

Bouagga Y. (éd.) (2020). Dossier « Jeunes en migration, entre défiance et protection », De facto, 17 mars. 

Boudou, B. (2018). Le dilemme des frontières. Éthique et politique de l’immigration. Paris, EHESS, coll. « Cas de figure », 263 p.

Brouwer J., Van Der Woude M. et Van Der Leun J (2017). « Framing migration and the process of crimmigration: A systematic analysis of the media representation of unauthorized immigrants in the Netherlands », European Journal of Criminology, 14(1), 100-119.

Calabrese L. et Veniard M. (2018). Penser les mots, dire la migration. Louvain-La-Neuve : Académia-L'Harmattan, 201 p.

Carayon L., Mattiussi J. et Vuattoux A. (2018), « ‘Soyez cohérent jeune homme !’ Enjeux et non-dits de l’évaluation de la minorité chez les jeunes étrangers isolés à Paris », Revue française de science politique, 68(1), 31-52.

Caviedes A. (2015). « An emerging ‘European’ portrayal of immigration? », Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41(6), 897-917. 

Chareaudeau P. (2005), Le discours politique. Les masques du pouvoir, Paris, Vuibert, 255 p.

Daghmi F., Damome É., Larrazet C. et Soubiale N. (2025). « La mise en récit des MNA, MIE et JMI comme révélateur d’un journalisme en transition », Transitions(s), XXIVe Congrès de la SFSIC, Rennes, 18-20 juin 2025. 

Damome É., Déaux L., Keller L., Rigoni I. et Soubiale N. (2023), « Les jeunes migrants isolés dans la presse nationale et aquitaine », Terrains/Théories [En ligne], 17. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/teth/5253 

Delescluse, A. et Loum, N. (2019). Migrations de jeunes Africains et représentations médiatiques des migrants : perspectives critiques, REFSICOM, Communication, changement et mondialisation. Quels objets, quelles dynamiques, quels enjeux nouveaux dans les Suds ? https://refsicom.org/591

Gallup, World Grows Less Accepting of Migrants (2020). https://news.gallup.com/poll/320678/world-grows-less-acceptingmigrants.aspx

Georgiou, M. et Zaborowski, R. (2017), Couverture médiatique de la « crise des réfugiés » : perspective européenne, Strasbourg, Rapport du Conseil de l’Europe DG1.

Héran, F. (2017). Avec l’immigration. Mesurer, débattre, agir, Paris, La Découverte.

Hollifield, J.F., Martin, P.L., Orrenius, P.M. et Héran F. (eds) (2022), Controlling Immigration. A Comparative Perspective, Redwood City, Stanford University Press, 768 p.

Joannon, B., Lenoël, A., Thiollet, H. et Yavuz, P.E. (2022), “Les migrations dans l’œil des médias : infox, influence et opinion”, De Facto - Institut Convergences Migrations, 30, 46 p.

Lacroix, T., Daghmi, F., Dureau, F., Robin, N. et Scioldo-Zürcher, Y., (Dir.) (2020) Penser les migrations : pour repenser la société, Tours, Presses universitaires François-Rabelais, 316 p.

Lemaire, É. (2012). « Portraits de mineurs isolés étrangers en territoire français : apprendre en situation de vulnérabilité », Revue internationale de l’éducation familiale, n°31, 31-53. 

Lendaro, A. (2016). « A ‘European Migrant Crisis’?”, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 16(1), p.148-157. 

Marmié, C. (2022), « Devenir "mineur non accompagné". Enjeux épistémologiques et effets pratiques d’une catégorie de l’intervention publique », Migrations Société, n°189, 41-57.

Mattelart, T. (Dir.) (2014). Médias et migrations dans l’espace euro-méditerranéen, Paris, Éditions Mare & Martin, 579 p.

Mendonça Dias, C. et Rigoni, I. (2020), « L’accompagnement solidaire des MNA ‘francophones’ sans solution scolaire », Migrations Société, Dossier : L’accueil des mineurs non accompagnés à l’épreuve de la communication (coord. Emmanuelle Canut, Juliette Delahaie), 32(181), juillet-septembre, 53-70.

Menjivar, C., Ruiz, M. et Ness, I. (eds) (2019), The Oxford Handbook of Migration Crises, New York, Oxford University Press, 952 p.

Neyrat, A. (2020), « Mineurs non accompagnés et inapplication du droit de la protection de l’enfance », in S. Renard et É. Péchillon (dir.), L’inapplication de la règle de droit. Exploration des contours d’un phénomène mal connu, Paris, mare & martin, 79-90. 

Pernin, T. et al. (2018), « Passage à la majorité chez les adolescents requérants d'asile et mineurs non accompagnés : aspects pratiques pour une approche interprofessionnelle efficace », Revue médicale suisse, 14(603), 826-830.

Przybyl, S. (2019), « Qui veut encore protéger les mineurs non accompagnés en France ? De l’accueil inconditionnel d’enfants en danger à la sous-traitance du contrôle d’étrangers indésirables », Lien social et Politiques, n°83, 58-81.

Rigoni, I. (2021), « Accompagner les MNA : enjeux et tensions en travail social », Les Cahiers du travail social (IRTS Franche-Comté), Dossier : Les mineurs non accompagnés, des adolescents comme les autres ?, n°98, 41-49.

Rigoni, I. (2023), « L’orientation scolaire des mineurs isolés étrangers. L’accompagnement différencié des professionnels de l’enseignement, du travail social et des bénévoles associatifs », Cahiers de la recherche sur l’éducation et les savoirs (CRES), hors-série n°8, 89-111.

Rigoni, I. et Crenn, C. (2021). L’accueil des MNA originaires d’Afrique sub-saharienne en Gironde. Protection de l’enfance, accès à l’éducation et à l’alimentation. Les diasporas africaines en France : enjeux politiques, économiques et culturels, Pessac, France. ⟨halshs-03616159⟩

Sinanian, A. et Robin-Poupard F. (2018), « Traumatismes et secrets : les enjeux de la relation clinique avec les mineurs non accompagnés », ERES, Nouvelle revue de psychologie, n°25, 177-190. 

Szikra, D., Radjack, R., Kokou-Kpolou, K., Baubet, T. et Moro, M.R. (2019), « Traumatismes migratoires chez les mineurs non accompagnés en Afrique. Analyse des facteurs de vulnérabilité et d’adaptation », L’information psychiatique, 95(8), 619-626.

Places

  • Cité des Langues étrangères, du Francçais et de la Francophonie (CLEFF) - Domaine Universitaire
    Bordeaux, France (33607)

Event attendance modalities

Full on-site event


Date(s)

  • Friday, January 09, 2026

Keywords

  • Jeunes migrants isolés, MNA, MIE, représentations, paroles, images, discours, opinion, identité

Contact(s)

  • ETIENNE DAMOME
    courriel : etienne [dot] damome [at] u-bordeaux-montaigne [dot] fr

Reference Urls

Information source

  • ETIENNE DAMOME
    courriel : etienne [dot] damome [at] u-bordeaux-montaigne [dot] fr

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Crossed Perspectives on/with Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Words, Images and Discourses », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, November 13, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/154yz

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