BMET 22A40 - Political Theory of Migration

This course explores some of the key ideas of the ethics of (im)migration and the political philosophy of refuge. The course is divided into two main parts. The first concerns the ethics of (im)migration, and it shall be split into two sub-parts. The ethics of immigration addresses issues of territorial admission/rejection and civic inclusion/exclusion in terms of the relationship of the potential immigrant and the admitting/refusing state. The ethics of migration addresses the relationship between migrants, home states and admitting states (and, in at least some contexts, other affected states). Its fundamental question concerns how transnational migration should be governed. One reason that this shift of perspective matters is that rather than focusing solely on the figure of the migrant as immigrant, it expands the potential subjects of discrimination in migration policy to encompass others affected by migration policies, such as the citizens of, or particular groups within, the sending and receiving states.The second part (of the course) will deal with the political philosophy of refuge. It examines the ethical and normative questions associated with refugees and forced migration within the framework of political theory. It looks at the ethics of displacement and forced migration in relation to much broader political theories of immigration, citizenship, and nationality, focusing on who should be able to claim asylum and the responsibilities of states in protecting those they recognize as refugees. Among other topics, it discusses how duties to refugees should be allocated between states, the limits of state responsibility to refugees, under what circumstances forced migration may be considered justifiable, and under what conditions should refugees return.

Leonardo BARROS DA SILVA MENEZES

Atelier

English

Reading and class participation: • Reading all the mandatory texts is essential for a successful completion of this course. The purpose of the lectures is not to spare you the need to read. The lectures are intended to supplement your reading and enhance your understanding: it will contextualize the texts and focus on aspects and arguments that may not have been clear enough on first reading. • Every student is expected to come to class after reading all mandatory items in the reading list and with a copy of the relevant texts (a hard copy is recommended) including his/her notes on the texts. • Students are expected to take part in class discussions by asking questions and comment on arguments raised by their peers and teacher. • All mandatory reading material will be uploaded to Moodle (Sciences Po)

Spring 2023-2024

To validate the course, students must pass a mid-term essay (40% of the final grade), a final exam (40% of the final grade) and the requirements and assignments (20% of the grade) in class. 1. Mid-term essay (40%) Students will be required to write a paper (1,000 words) for the first part of the course. More information about the deadline and the essay format will be given at a later stage. 2. Final exam (40%) The exam will consist of two parts: In the first part, students will be given two essay questions and asked to answer one of them (~1000 words). The questions will be broad, and students will be asked to refer to several texts (of their choice) discussed during the semester. In the second part, students will be asked to answer one short question (~500 words). In this part, the questions will be narrow and will ask the students to clarify specific arguments in the texts discussed in the second part of the term. 3. Participation (20%): Students will be required to engage in writing exercises (designed to improve their writing/analytic skills) as well as in ‘parliamentary debates' (where the class will be split into two sub-groups in each session; then, while one group is supposed to support an argument, the other one will be expected to offer an opposing view about a real-world case related to the weekly theme).

• The workshop is divided into 12 weekly sessions (see schedule below). • The workshop sessions are designed to give students an opportunity to raise questions about the readings and to discuss them (and other relevant topics) openly and freely in small groups.