Kevin Perry, Executive Editor

20 November 2007

Irresponsible scaremongering by the press has contributed to xenophobic behaviour in society, according to an Oxford academic.

Professor Stephen Castles, Co-Director of the International Migration Institute at Oxford University, also expressed his fear that research into migration would become policy-driven due to its increasing politicisation, during his inaugural lecture for the LSE’s new Migration Studies Unit.

Castles argued that while having more bodies specialising in migration was a positive development, political pressure could lead to a demand for short term solutions dictated by funding bodies, resulting in bad social science.

Speaking to The Beaver shortly before the lecture, which was titled ‘Migration and Social Transformation’, Castles was happy to discuss the irresponsible way in which many tabloids have covered migration, describing it as “appalling”. He said, “The Daily Express and the Daily Mail have been publishing scare stories on an almost daily basis.”

Castles believes that this xenophobia is rooted in a fear of change. “Society is rapidly changing, due to things like increased mechanisation, but this is much harder to point to. Migrants are a visible sign of social change.” Many such stories gain credibility due to their association with Migration Watch, a UK based think tank which benefits from its association with David Coleman, one of Castle’s colleagues at Oxford. Castles describes Coleman as “a strange character”, saying that while on the one hand he is a professional academic, he has also claimed at migration conferences that there “is a ‘demographic law’ that if you have increased migration into an area, then the migrant population will eventually replace the native population. That’s absurd.”

However, he points out that there are misconceptions about many different aspects of migration. “Many people believe that if countries become more developed then people will be less likely to leave. This isn’t true – development causes migration.

“Development improves agricultural productivity – which sounds like a good thing, but it means that fewer people are needed. People move into the cities, which leads to increasing urbanisation in places like Lagos, but if there are no jobs then moving to another country becomes a sensible idea.”

Castles made clear his belief that many of these misconceptions arise from trying to view migration as an isolated phenomenon. He concluded his lecture by stating: “Migration should not be viewed on its own, but should be embedded in the wider study of social transformation.”