A Critical Approach to Understanding Young People’s Political Participation Post-Brexit through their Engagement with Media Representations of Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

Abstract

This research seeks to highlight young people’s political identity, engagement, participation and sense of the political through focusing on their understanding of migration in the context of media representations of refugees and asylum seekers in post-Brexit Britain. The work takes a critical lens to understanding youth, politics and research methods by adopting a nuanced mixed-methods approach to data collection. The Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) provides insights into the media’s ability to influence and be influenced by dominant public opinion. In addition, the focus groups, interviews and questionnaire data provide an in-depth focus on young people’s individual and collective thoughts on the United Kingdom’s (UK) migration concerns and its portrayal in the media and political arenas. The research finds that young people are welcoming towards refugees and asylum seekers and perceived anti-immigrant attitudes as contrasting to their own. They challenge dominant negative media representations of refugees and asylum seekers that frame them as ‘spongers’, ‘potential terrorists’ or ‘sexual predators’. Politically, young people consider immigration to be an integral issue in the UK and demonstrate a wide-ranging awareness of political issues relating to migration. However, the dominant assumption that they are disengaged and disinterested in politics and political issues contributes to their feelings of powerlessness to enact meaningful political change. Instead of being disengaged, young people participate in both formal and informal modes of political participation; however, the latter is dismissed whilst the former is valorised. This leaves young people feeling that they must vote despite perceiving it to have limited influence. The continued and prolonged dismissal of young people’s participation risks them becoming increasingly frustrated with their sense of powerlessness.

Date of Award	16 May 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Edge Hill University
Supervisor	MARK MCGOVERN (Director of Studies) & Lisa Moran (Supervisor)