Belonging, Migration, and the Social Contract — Through Film
- Jan 28
- 2 min read
At a time when debates on migration are increasingly polarized across Europe, questions about who belongs and on what terms are central to how social contracts are actively renegotiated and evolve. While these debates often unfold in parliaments, other institutional spheres, news studios or on social media platforms (which CO3 studied ahead of the EU elections in 2024), they are also shaped in other spaces where stories are told through arts or cinema.
In Portugal, a film showcase organized by the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra set out to explore how migration shapes contemporary societies and its essential social contracts. The event took place on 10th December 2025, the International Human Rights Day, simultaneously in four Cities: Coimbra, Abrantes, Évora and Faro. Rather than approaching migration as a policy phenomenon or demographic trend, the screenings invited audiences to engage with migration as lived experience.
The programme brought together ten short films addressing migration through themes such as dis/trust, dignity, resilience, resistance, and re-existence. The films ranged from early 20th-century footage of migrants arriving at Ellis Island to contemporary accounts of pushbacks at Europe’s borders, Ukrainian displacement, and migrant labour in and from Portugal. Together, they offered a diachronic perspective on how societies are continuously reconstructed through movement, contribution, and belonging.
Crucially, the screenings did not merely tell stories about migrants. Instead, migrants were protagonists in the films, contributors to their production, and active participants in post-screening discussions.
Addressing social contracts through cinema also shifts attention from abstract notions of “integration” toward mutual responsibility and recognition. The films highlighted how migrants already belong and contribute while remaining excluded from full recognition or political voice. By making these stories visible, the screenings challenged exclusionary narratives and reinforced the idea that democratic social contracts must remain open to those who sustain them.
In line with CO3’s findings on the long-term, uneven formation of social contracts, the screening highlights how contemporary negotiations of belonging are shaped in a variety of settings by those who actively engage in society irrespective of where they come from.
For more information and for the programme of the event please visit:
