BMET 27A17 - Human rights in the Middle East

Understanding the role of the state and its institutions is key to understanding the way in which concepts like sovereignty can affect the implementation of migration policies. Such policies play a major role in building a functioning European political community. The effectiveness of these instruments and their implementation at the domestic level will depend on accurate and relevant empirical knowledge of migration in order to better inform publics and public policies of migrant realities. Qualitative research is in a unique position to provide the rich and nuanced analysis of migration case studies, allowing for conceptual refinements and redefinition of existing categories, while assessing the effectiveness of policy actions by evaluating the lived experiences of migrants. While there is great need for cross-national comparable data on migration policies and a method for classifying and comparing migration laws, quantification can often obscure important qualitative insights. This is not to say that one method outperforms the other. Scholars inceasingly understand that insights derived from more qualitative comparative work can serve as stepping stones towards statistical analysis. Qualitative approaches to migration policy making help to develop theory by furthering understandings of the way in which migration discourses operate as conceptual spaces for notions like national identity and sovereignty. Moreover, qualitative comparisons, aimed at drawing causal inferences, are able to capture long-term developments and contextual circumstances of migration policies between countries.

In introducing students to qualitative approaches to migration studies, this course takes on a thematic, and at the same time, practical approach. Focusing primarily on policies related to migration, it draws on interdiscplinary studies of various aspects of migration law, while engaging students in in-depth analysis contemporary migration issues to highlight the challenges and research needs of the field. The course also invites students to reflect on migration from within the framework of comparative politics, investigating concepts like sovereignty within the context of contemporary policy issues such as the Dublin accords. Likewise, political discourses such as autochthony and belonging are highlighted to show their effects on rising nationalism in both Africa and Europe.

The objectivs of the course is to engage students in the dominant debates on migration policies, and to challenge students to identify the intergovernmental and supranational dynamics at play in the development of migration policies. Students will learn and use theoretical concepts to analyze current policy issues. They will also be able to identify and evaluate research methods used in research papers, as well as to use these methods to design and conduct their own research.

Attendance and class participation 10%

Written summaries of assigned readings (twice per semester) (20%) – to be emailed the night before class of assigned reading

Oral presentation on the methodology of assigned paper 30%

Research proposal for chosen topic on Comparative Politics of Migration