This study takes place in three phases.

In the first phase, researchers compared representations of Syrian refugees in one German newspaper (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and one Canadian newspaper (The Globe and Mail). The research team applied the concept of sublation (Bauder, 2011) and critical discourse analysis to articles published between September 2015 and January 2016 – the height of the Syrian refugee “crisis.” Researchers focused on how media perceptions of refugees and refugee-related issues differed in Canada and Germany, and along urban/rural and provincial lines in each country.

The second phase examines public claims-making in two specific contexts: the Rhein-Neckar Metropolitan Region in Germany, and the National Capital Region in Canada. The research team is sampling articles published in the Rhein-Neckar Zeitung (distributed in the German cities Heidelberg, Sinsheim, Mosbach, Buchen and their surroundings), as well as The Ottawa Citizen and Le Droit (distributed in the Canadian cities Ottawa and Gatineau and their surroundings). This phase seeks to identify which actors or “carrier groups” manage to get their voices heard in the public space. It examines what claims are being made in the public space for, against, and by refugees.

The third phase focuses on refugee reception and perceptions past “the survival years” when issues of long-term integration become more salient. This phase builds on previous theories and methodologies, focusing on two local newspapers – the Stuttgarter Zeitung in Germany and The Ottawa Citizen/Le Droit in Canada. This phase aims to better understand the integration of refugee families beyond the arrival phase. It focuses more specifically on issues of access to social and cultural citizenship.