IFCO 5070 - Geopolitics of Migrations: how migration affects state formation and international relations

This course will introduce to the contemporary and emerging stakes posed by international migration in the international arena. In dialogue with case studies and comparative research, students will learn about how states adapt to the changing features of human mobility in a context of growing geopolitical (and climate) instability and how this affects interstate relations.

The externalisation of migration control and diaspora policies have transformed the geography of public intervention, thereby opening a new field for public action and diplomatic engagement. Public authorities develop extraterritorial strategies to enhance, constrain or orient the human, material and symbolic flows. In doing so, another form of state emerges, the transnational state, it is to say system of political, bureaucratic, financial and cognitive tools that enable public actors to act beyond borders. The course will provide students with a theoretical toolbox to understand the dynamics at stake and knowledge on the ways new categories of actors interfere with the management of migrations: international organisations, civil society organisations, cities and private companies.

This course is broken down in three parts.

The first one presents the forms and evolution of global migration flows and transnationalism around the world. It presents the variety of social formations as well as of material and immaterial flow produced by migration, including financial and political remittances.

The second part investigates the formation of transnational states around the world. It seeks to understand how and why state actors evolve while searching for a way to manage migration flows. It draws on a variety of examples: France, Morocco, Germany, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, India or Mexico.

The last part focuses on the mutations of the international sphere induced by the emergence of the transnational state. It analyses the structuration of a global governance of migration and the constellation of international organisations supporting it; the emergence of a “migration diplomacy” (i.e. the use of migration to advance an international agenda) and of a migration-related urban diplomacy (while cities become a legitimate actor of the governance of migration).

It is a fundamental course for which there is no prerequisite. Students are expected to read the suggested readings before each session and achieve the expected assignments (see below)

• Mid-term assignment (at home): commented bibliography 30%

Students will have to choose a topic addressed during the course, build up a bibliography of at least 10 references and write a 10.000-character critical analysis of this corpus of works.

Students will have to highlight the different ways the topic has been addressed (use of different methods and disciplinary approaches) and discuss the different outcomes of this research.

• Final on-site exam: written essay on a topic related to the course. 3 hours 70%

Students will have to choose one topic out of two given by the teacher.

During exam week: between 11th to 17th of December.