What’s next?

We hope you have enjoyed this unit. Here are some suggested sources to help you consolidate and enhance what you have learnt:

Have a go at this online quiz on the visual politics of migration

Here is some further reading on some of the key topics in this unit. To learn more about art-based methods of migration research, see:

Moralli, Melissa. “Arts-Based Methods in Migration Research: A Methodological Analysis on Participatory Visual Methods and Their Transformative Potentials and Limits in Studying Human Mobility.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 23 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241254008.

To learn more about research on visual representation of Ukrainian migration, see:

Martikainen, Jari and Sakki, Inari. “Visual Humanization of Refugees: A Visual Rhetorical Analysis of Media Discourse on the War in Ukraine.” British Journal of Social Psychology 63 (2024): 106–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12669

To find out more about visual methodology, look at:

Nikielska-Sekula, Karolina, and Amandine Desille, eds. Visual Methodology in Migration Studies: New Possibilities, Theoretical Implications, and Ethical Questions. IMISCOE Research Series (IMIS), 2021. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-67608-7.

Ball, Susan. “Chapter 23: Visual Methods in Migration Research.” In Research Handbook on the Sociology of Migration, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839105463.00031.

Reading list

Here is a recommended reading list for this unit with the most important texts in bold:

Ball, Susan. “Chapter 23: Visual methods in migration research.” In Research Handbook on the Sociology of Migration, (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024) accessed Jan 29, 2025, https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839105463.00031

Bleiker, Roland. Visual Global Politics. London: Routledge, 2018.

Chouliaraki, Lilie and Stolic, Tijana. Rethinking media responsibility in the refugee ‘crisis’: a visual typology of European news. Media, Culture and Society. 39, 8(2017), 1162-1177.

Smets, Kevin. “Chapter 9: Visual methods for migration research: approaches, strategies, and challenges.” In Handbook of Research Methods in Migration, (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024) accessed Feb 2, 2025, https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800378032.00020

Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003.