A Conversation with Christina Antonakos-Wallace on the Belonging Beyond Borders Project (Press)

(Excerpted from a recent interview by EPIM - European Philanthropic Initiative for Migration)

In a world where migration is often weaponized and used as a divisive issue, the Belonging Beyond Borders project offers a refreshing, transformative approach. Spearheaded by our team in collaboration with EPIM  (European Philanthropic Initiative for Migration), this project aims to shift narratives, challenge power structures, and advance migrant justice in a global context. EPIM sat down with our director to discuss the goals, philosophy, and vision for the future of this important project.

Here is an excerpt from the conversation with our Initiator and Global Director, Christina Antonakos-Wallace:

Can you tell us more about Belonging Beyond Borders: A Network for new visions of migration, the project you are working on with EPIM, Building Belonging and the Democracy and Belonging Forum? 

Belonging Beyond Borders is a network designed to advance new narratives and strategies for migrant justice. We aim to develop a belonging framework for global migration, connecting to fields including democracy, and climate resilience and fostering collaboration among activists, scholars, and cultural workers. What sets this project apart is its transnational approach: migration is inherently global, and addressing its root causes requires collaboration across borders. By linking movements and sharing strategies from diverse contexts, we aim to co-create solutions that reflect the interconnected nature of these challenges. 

This work is urgent. Authoritarian movements have weaponised migration as a wedge issue, undermining democracies around the world and making migrants scapegoats for broader societal anxieties. While these narratives harm migrant and racialised communities most directly, they are weakening the fabric of pluralistic democracies, and every progressive cause is impacted, with dire consequences. 

We will start with thought leaders and community organisers, developing pilot projects that demonstrate how belonging can drive systemic change. Our goal is to accelerate the transformative change needed right now by grounding our efforts in principles that transcend political cycles. By nurturing connections among movements and equipping leaders with narrative tools and strategies, we aim to create a robust, cross-sector framework for justice that endures. Unlike traditional networks, we prioritise relationship-building and narrative shifts as foundational, believing these are prerequisites for the systemic change we aim for. 

If we focus on our current political reality and stick with what seems pragmatic, it is easy to feel discouraged. But I believe that we can attract many people to our vision and transform our systems in far more exponential ways if our work is grounded in deeper principles that are based on all of our well-being. 

What does bringing a belonging lens to global migration entail? As a framing, how is it different from multiculturalism, integration, inclusion etc? 

Belonging offers a fundamental shift by identifying the root of the problem as systemic othering–therefore being a shared framework that applies not only to race or migration but all forms of social exclusion and supremacy. 

Unlike multiculturalism, which often celebrates diversity without addressing power imbalances, or inclusion and integration, which implies joining existing dominant systems, belonging demands the transformation—of systems, cultures, and power structures—so that every individual’s inherent value is reflected in tangible ways. 

A belonging lens also bridges issue silos. For example, understanding immigrant justice as a fight to honour inherent belonging reveals parallels with struggles for racial equity, gender justice, and even environmental sustainability. 

When applied to climate resilience, belonging reframes humans and the planet as interconnected, rejecting both human supremacy and apocalyptic narratives that devalue humanity’s role in the ecosystem. 

For the network, we are lucky to be working with thought leaders on belonging - namely the Democracy and Belonging Forum of the Othering and Belonging Institute led by UC Berkeley professor john a. powell and Building Belonging. Visionaries like powell have begun articulating this framework of belonging without othering, and our work builds on this foundation to offer practical examples and tools for applying this vision across sectors. 

The project is a moonshot - where would you like it to be 2 years down-the-line? 

In two years, I hope Belonging Beyond Borders will be well-established as a hub for new narratives and strategies on migration and belonging. This means seeing the belonging framework actively shaping the work of organisations and leaders across sectors, breaking down silos between migration and other movements, and driving new collaborations. 

Our initial focus is on narrative change, which is a necessarily long-term effort, but essential to counter the right-wing dominance in migration discourse. We aim to provide concrete tools such as a published framework, examples and shared language to strengthen this framework and protect it from dilution as it gains mainstream traction. For example, we aim to support and document case studies of successful collaborations between migrant organisers, climate activists, and democracy advocates, providing a model for cross-sectoral work. 

One long-term measure of success will be when we see not just movement leaders, but also political leaders, educators, journalists and other practitioners adopting a belonging-based migration framework, with visible shifts in public discourse and policy approaches. We plan to launch practitioner labs that explore how this lens can be implemented, equipping leaders to amplify this perspective in their respective sectors. 

By cultivating deep relationships and building belonging within the network, we hope to model the change we seek to create in the world. Ultimately, we aspire to generate momentum for a longer-term network that can address the foundational challenges migration raises about the nation-state, human rights, and the natural movement of people.

To learn more about how the Belonging Beyond Borders project, check out the full interview here.