Migration is one of the most contentious issues of our time. Today, there are over 1 billion migrants globally, representing about 1 in 8 people on the planet. This includes over 763 million internal migrants, 281 international migrants, and 120 million forcibly displaced individuals (WHO, 2022). In this course, we will consider the causes and consequences of these movements from the perspective of both receiving (destination) as well as sending (origin) societies. In doing so, we will strive to understand how migration both shapes and is shaped by a complex interplay of institutional, historical, economic, and political factors. Specifically, we will examine how migrants have been conceptualized in existing academic and policy discourse, why people move and what informs these decisions, how immigration reshapes receiving societies economically, culturally, and politically, how natives and governments respond to immigration, and what the economic and political consequences of emigration are for societies of origin.
In examining these questions, we will draw from a wide range of source materials, including scholarship in political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology, as well as long-form journalism and film. We will cover the full richness of migration across world, engaging with case studies from the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Our examination of migration will span various scales, from the macro-level of nation-states to the micro-scale of municipalities, households, and the individual. The primary goal of this course is for students to understand the multicausal nature of migration, and to appreciate the connections between migration and contemporary debates on citizenship, identity politics, economic development, social cohesion, and political stability.
In examining these questions, we will draw from a wide range of source materials, including scholarship in political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology, as well as long-form journalism and film. We will cover the full richness of migration across world, engaging with case studies from the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Our examination of migration will span various scales, from the macro-level of nation-states to the micro-scale of municipalities, households, and the individual. The primary goal of this course is for students to understand the multicausal nature of migration, and to appreciate the connections between migration and contemporary debates on citizenship, identity politics, economic development, social cohesion, and political stability.
- Teacher: Shashwat Dhar