Unpacking the global refugee crisis: deploying the ethical and political work of border crossing

This article, derived from the author’s keynote address to the ANZCA conference in July 2017, seeks to reinvigorate a constitutive Communication research approach, drawing on feminist, postcolonial, and intersectional analysis as well as recent research on listening. The model is tested via a case study of BBC media framing the European 2017 refugee crisis as a regional, rather than global, problem. It is argued that Eastern European and Tier 1 countries’ resettlement policies reflect colonial histories and liberal legacies, seeking not to relieve humanitarian strain but to enhance economic growth. The article suggests we must confront how privilege enacts culturally exclusive practices that normalise complacent attitudes in media and scholarly environments that exempt the voices of those ‘outside of the neighborhood’. The duty of ‘care’ is problematised here as a potential tool of colonialism, which must be used ethically if it is to invite thoughtful listening in our work as researchers, organisational leaders, and colleagues seeking to decolonise our practices.