Rethinking frame analysis ‘from the margins’: A decolonial-intersectional epistemology to studying immigrants’ rights claims

Abstract

In this article, I explain how I use frame analysis in my research on immigrants’ rights claims in receiving society. My theoretical approach relies on two core aspects. First, I use a decolonial-intersectional epistemology to conceptualize my methodology and conduct my empirical research. This approach allows to bring into focus the analysis of ideology and power dynamics to understand how immigrants are constructed by different political actors and how immigrant activists respond. Second, I adopt an actor-oriented approach and combine ethnographic research with frame analysis to make sense of how pro-immigrant actors and immigrants themselves frame their approach to migration and the ways in which they translate their framing into specific strategies to integrate immigrants in society and promote their rights. As an example, I discuss how I have applied the theoretical approach to my research on immigrant activism in Italy. Beyond my work, this article emphasizes that a decolonial-intersectional approach can improve current research on frame analysis of rights claims of marginalized groups, by addressing how these groups expose and challenge structures of oppression in their own terms.