Introduction

Do you want to learn about the difference between migrants, refugees and diasporas? Do you want to know the reasons for their migration, settlement and circular and temporal mobilities across different global locations? Do you want to understand how citizens, political parties, government and international organisations relate to migration domestically and internationally? If this is so, then this module is for you! The study of migration has occupied significant attention in sociology, anthropology, and demography, as interest has surged with the acceleration of globalisation. However, studying political questions related to migration has been more recent. This module brings cutting edge research on the international politics of migration to students in the classroom and a systematic examination of political science questions that other disciplines have been little attentive to. This includes the study of how migrants, refugees and diasporas relate to the state, its territory, sovereignty, and security; how they are treated in different political regimes (democracies, autocracies, competitive authoritarianisms); how they contribute and respond to trends in the economy, conflicts and crises; how they relate to political institutions, governance, voting, and foreign policy. The module takes both a governance perspective, looking into how migration is treated by those in power, and how migrants’ agency and opposition matters in world politics. We also study globalisation and regionalisation of migration, interdependence between the Global North and Global South, and how this affects the international political order.

Module aims

The module aims to:

• analyse key issues in the study of international politics of migration with a differentiated lens towards the treatment of voluntary and forces migrants, as well as long-term diasporas and their political transnationalism.
• expose students to major classic debates about international migration, as well as contemporary political approaches at the nexus of international relations, comparative politics, and international political sociology. These include discussing international migration in the context of power, institutions, governance, voting, political change, foreign policy, global interdependencies, and others.
• develop skills to do research and interpretation of political science and international relations literature focused on international migration; analysis and systematic comparison of empirical material; preparation and presentation of results in a collaborative manner; and deepening of writing skills through individual assignments.
• integrate domestic, international, and global aspects of international migration to create a holistic view from a political perspective.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Critically evaluate complex themes and a variety of approaches and debates about political questions relating to international politics of migration.
• Question conventional approaches viewing international migration from a statist perspective; develop instead a new way to look at it from the intersection of domestic, transnational, and international politics.
• Critically engage with issues of cultural differences carried by migration and how these are politically governed or challenged, including on issues of race, gender, class, and intersectionality, as well as concerning relations between the Global North and Global South.
• Develop sophistication in articulating ideas in writing,, including through writing a book review.