OAMI 2175 - Race, migration, and citizenship in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa

The course takes a sociological approach to study the intersections of race, migration, and citizenship in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa region. The first sessions will provide fundamental sociological tools to approach socio-political inequalities, focusing on race and citizenship-migrant lines. We will then interrogate the discursive constructions of the Middle East and North Africa region as hosting homogenously ‘Arab' nationals. Some of the questions we will be asking during the class sessions: what are the afterlives of the practices of slavery and colonialism in the region? What is at stake in naming contemporary practices like the kafala as ‘modern slavery'? What do states do when a majority of their population is non-‘native'? And what does ‘native' mean – Arab, Amazigh, African? The course will end with a study of minority movements that contest their unequal status along race as well as migrant-citizen lines.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Acquisition of key concepts: social and political inequalities, social stratification, race, migration, citizenship 2. Acquisition of methodologies: analysis of primary- and secondary-source texts (newspapers, social media comments, political documents, academic texts, etc.)
3. Acquisition of local and regional socio-political dynamics in the Middle East and North Africa

Professional Skills :

1. Ability to identify key actors governing race, migration, and citizenship in the MENA region
2. Ability to sociologically and ethically engage with key social and political issues in the region

Shreya PARIKH

Séminaire

English

- Reading and Preparation for Class: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester.
- Research and Preparation for Group Work: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester.
- Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 4.5 hours a week / 54 hours a semester.

A basic knowledge on the politics and societies in the Middle East and North Africa region is desirable but not needed.

Autumn 2024-2025

- Requirements for the class include doing the weekly readings and participating in class discussions (10%);
- Two short writing assignments (20%+20%);
- Final research project including final paper (30%)
- Final presentation (20%)

A week before each assignment is due, I will provide a grading grid as well as key expectations.
Students will receive their grade with detailed feedback in the week following the submission of their assignment.