The Story of Migration animation

This case study was authored by Professor Heaven Crawley, Elise Collie and Dr Benjamin Dix.

The Story of Migration is a seven-minute animation produced in collaboration with MIDEQ partner PositiveNegatives and illustrated by artist Karrie Fransman. The animation is based on a script written with MIDEQ Hub partners in 11 countries and across various disciplines. The animation innovatively captures the key concepts underpinning the MIDEQ Hub, challenging many of the ideas that dominate media and academic representations of migration. It tells a new story of migration which draws attention to South-South migration and the relationships between migration, development and inequality and is grounded in research undertaken by those whose knowledge and perspectives are often underrepresented in global academic, media and policy debates. It highlights:

  • The fact that migration between the countries of the Global South accounts for nearly half of all international migration, 70% in some places;
  • The complex reasons why people move including poverty, conflict and love;
  • The fact that inequalities are increasing and have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • The role of inequalities including gender and age in shaping migration decisions;
  • Inequalities in the ability to travel safely between the countries of the Global South;
  • The economic, political, social and cultural contributions made by migrants; and
  • The implications of migration for those ‘left behind’.

The production of The Story of Migration animation – from original concept to production of the script, creation of the animation and recording of voiceovers in multiple languages – involved a large number of Hub partners from a wide range of geographical and disciplinary backgrounds. This was important to ensure that the animation reflected the perspectives and interests of all those involved and that it was collectively ‘owned’ by the project. Drawing on MIDEQ’s initial proposal, the project website, meetings and blogs, a number of ideas were developed for the script and MIDEQ Global South Co-Is and their teams were invited to contribute to the drafting process. There was substantial positive engagement from Global South partners, with extensive feedback, perspectives and new ideas. These inputs were collated and a draft script developed by the coordination team and re-circulated for further consultation before finalisation.