ISS-4346 Migration, Globalization and Livelihoods
Code
Weight of the course
Period
Course Leader
Lecturers
Teaching Methods
Modes of Assessment
Contact
ISS-4346
8 ECTS
TERM 3
Mahmood Messkoub
Des Gasper, Helen Hintjens, Mahmood Messkoub, Karin Astrid
Siegmann
Participatory Lecture, Workshop, Seminars
Assignments: 85% (Essays), Group Assignment: 15%
(Presentations)
Marja de Clercq Zubli
Learning objectives
This is a course on the political economy of migration and mobility in the world. It is offered as an option in the
Term 3 and does not have any pre-requisite, except knowledge of basic development issues that have been
covered in the core/general courses in Term 1. It provides participants with knowledge of the causes and
consequences of national/internal and international migratory movements in the world.
Course description
This course places the dynamics of migration in an historical perspective paying particular attention to its geopolitical and economic contexts taking note of the evolving complexity and multi-causal nature of migration. Very
briefly, the course deals with the causes of migration (for example the demand for labour, differences in income
and employment opportunities between two regions); and its consequences (for example, ‘brain/skill drain’,
remittance of money by migrant, gender balance at origin and destination); as well as the cultural and political
dimensions of migration such as the debate on the control of migration and integration of migrants.
In the way of background, modern migratory movement can best be understood in the context of a globalized
market economy that directs and regulates the flows of goods, money and labour. The impact of globalization
goes far beyond the international movement of labour. In fact much of the world migration takes place within
countries or within the same continent or region. Yet these internal movements have always been subject to
national and international economic and political forces, as the current migratory movement in China shows. The
Chinese internal migration, the largest in human history, has been driven, to a large degree, by international
demand for cheap labour and international investment to produce cheap manufactured goods for the international
market.Globalization has accelerated the pace of liberalization, deregulation and flexiblisation of labour markets.
Whilst native workers in the more developed countries abandon the low paid jobs, the demand for different types
of low paid unskilled workers has been on the rise that has been increasingly filled by migrant workers from
developing countries, employed under precarious conditions. The course pays particular attention to the
formation of diverse migratory regimes within and across countries and regions.
The course is also concerned with the cultural and political aspects of migration of people who move in order to
sell their labour. It is important to note that labour as a commodity is embodied in human beings with all their
physical, gendered and cultural characteristics, that are shaped by history. This gives migration its distinct
political and cultural dimensions. The course will also deal with some of these aspects of migration by addressing
the current debate in receiving countries in Europe and USA with regard to the integration of migrants.
Alongside labour migration, there are other migratory flows such as family re-union, migration for education and
most important of all forced migration from regions and countries in situations of conflict or war. We consider
how forced migration is ‘managed’ and how it is being redefined, legally and politically, and in relation to
international agreements and treaties such as 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention. We also ask questions on
how internally displaced persons affected by migration and refugee regimes and regulations, and how state and
non-state actors in various parts of the globe seek to manage and control ‘forced migration’ in relation to
restrictions on migration.
Indicative reading
Cohen, R. (2006) Migration and its Enemies: Global Capital, Migrant Labour and the Nation-state. Aldershot:
Ashgate.
Harris, N. (1996) The New Untouchables: Immigration and the New World Worker. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Truong, T-D. and D.R. Gasper (eds) (2013) Transnational Migration and Human Security: The MigrationDevelopment-Security Nexus. Heidelberg: Springer.
UNDP (2009) Human Development Report 2009 – Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.