87152 - Sociology Of International Migrations

Learning outcomes

"The aim of the course is to enable students to: * Be knowledgeable about sociological theories and literature of international migrations in a sociological and historical perspective * Recognize the main pattern and systems of migration from the developing to the developed world * Be familiar with the main migration and integration policies * Be familiar with the main sources of data and information on migrations * Apply a set of tools for analyzing migrations and assimilation processes, and thus interpret them in a direct and continuous interplay with the academic literature."

Course contents

The social landscape of Europe has been significantly influenced by international migration and the settlement of immigrant minorities. These changes manifest in social, political, demographic, economic, and cultural aspects, prompting new questions: What drives people to migrate? Why do transnational movements endure across time and space? What are the experiences of individuals and groups after migration? Do immigrant minorities and their descendants integrate into the host countries' socio-economic fabric, and to what extent? How can we gauge and evaluate immigrant integration and assimilation in host countries? What are the implications of the emergence and onset of diverse, multiethnic societies in Europe?

 

The course will cover the major theories and empirical research on immigration and settlement of foreigners from sociology, with consideration of contributions from history, demography, economy, political science, and anthropology as needed. The course focuses on the European case within a broader comparative framework, encompassing contemporary migratory systems dating back to the early 20th century.

 

Main topics: Do we really live in "The Age of Migration"? - What are the main Theories of international migrations? - How have International migrations systems evolved in postwar Europe? - What are the main immigrations controls ? - Models of Immigration in Europe - Immigrations, 2G and integration/assimilation - Immigrants and Public opinions in Europe (and in the world)

 

More details will be provided in the firsts lessons of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students

Students attending the class will be given a reading list at the start of the course. The readings will typically consist of academic journal articles, research papers, reports.

All the readings covered during lectures are mandatory and are considered part of the syllabus for the final exams. It is expected that students read them in advance and be prepared for discussions during lectures.

These readings are essential for completing assignments as well (see "Assessment methods" section for attending students). All readings will be accessible online through the university's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) website.

 

 

Non-attending students

(1) - book

Gatrell, Peter. 2019. The Unsettling of Europe: The Great Migration, 1945 to the Present. London: Penguin Books Limited.

 

(2) - book

Abramitzky, Ran and Leah Boustan. 2022. Streets of Gold. America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success. New York: Public Affairs.

or: 

Deng, Grazia Ting. Chinese Espresso. Contested Race & Convivial Space in Contemporary Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024.

 

(3) book

Livi Bacci, Massimo. 2012. A Short History of Migration: Polity.

or:

Livi-Bacci, Massimo. 2023. Over Land and Sea. Migration from Antiquity to the Present Day: Polity.

 

(4) - journal articles

The following resources are available on "Virtuale - Virtual Learning Environment":

All the 4 papers in Reading List 1 (RL1 "Climate Migration: Research and Fiction") or all the papers in Reading list 2 (RL2 "Cultural Assimilation") - All the papers of one of the two

AND

All the 4 papers in Reading list 3 (RL3 "Theories of International Migrations")

 

(5) journal article

Colombo, Asher and Gianpiero Dalla‐Zuanna. 2019. “Immigration Italian Style, 1977 – 2018.” Population And Development Review. 45:585-615.

 

 

Both Attending and non-attending students

For those unfamiliar with sociological concepts and theories, I highly recommend reading:

• Van Tubergen, F., Introduction to Sociology, London, Routledge 2020
• de Swaan, A., Human Societies. An Introduction, Polity Press, 2001

 

Teaching methods

The course is organized as it follows.

• In the first part of the course, we will have lectures on theories, present empirical research, and discuss papers from the reading list. Students must read the assigned material before class and are encouraged to participate actively. As an outcome of this part, students will prepare a short theoretical paper on a chosen topic, to be done individually.
• In the second part of the course, we will focus on preparing a Statistical Report on Migration. Students will need to find a reliable source, gather and analyze data, and write a statistical report on international migration. Each group will need a personal computer with a spreadsheet program (like Excel, Google Sheets, or similar) or a statistical package (SPSS, Stata, R). This report will be presented in class, and students will work in small groups.

 

Assessment methods

Attending students

Students who attend the class are not required to take a final exam. Their final grade is based on assignments and class participation. The assignments include:

• Reading and discussing the assigned papers (individual assignment) and
• a statistical profile (group assignment).

All details will be provided on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) after the start of the course.

 

 

Non-attending students

The exam is written and consists in answering to open questions on all the books and papers on the reading list. See "Readings/Bibliography" section, sub-section "Non attending student".

 

More details will be provided during the course and on VLE (Virtual Learning Environment)

Teaching tools

The course utilizes four primary teaching tools:

- A reading list

- A list of websites directing to research institutions and statistical sources that everyone is expected to become familiar with

- Spreadsheet / statistical packages for statistical data analysis

- The slides presented during the course and provided online on the VLE ("Virtual Learning Environment"), usually after the end of the second lesson of each week.

Office hours

See the website of Asher Daniel Colombo