The politics of mobility, displacement and asylum
A.A. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course belongs to the general area of political anthropology and the related sub-discipline of the anthropology of migration (human mobility, forced displacement, humanitarianism, globalization etc) as well as to studies on citizenship and political inclusion. In the first part, it presents an introduction to global mobility, global migration flows, displacement and asylum, taking into account their quantitative, legal and sociological dimensions and, specifically, it will deal with (global) South-North and South-South mobility and displacement. In the second part, from an anthropological and ethnographic perspective, in-depth case studies around these themes are presented, shedding light on social worlds, experiences, tensions and transformations related to migration. The third part (9 credits only) is a seminar-style section focused on developing a political anthropology of citizenship, asylum, political inclusion, nationalism, belonging, community-making: it presents and discusses classical texts as well as new research revolving around these topics.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Through a combination of frontal lectures, individual/group presentations, in-class discussions, at the end of the course students should be able to:
1. Critically debate key questions on human mobility, global migration flows, asylum and displacement in their quantitative as well as qualitative dimensions.
2. Analyze detailed case-studies, with context-specific and ethnographically informed examples.
3. Understand the mutual definition of migrants, refugees and citizens; of the political exclusion and inclusion; of statelessness, citizenship, and national belonging.
Ability to apply Knowledge and Understanding
1. Assess the policy, political and ethical implications of migration dynamics and public discourses built around them.
2. Go beyond generic and stereotyped representations of migration, belonging and citizenship, by differentiating typologies, categories and dimensions of migratory dynamics
3. Go beyond the ethnocentric vision of globalization and migratory dynamics.
Through a combination of frontal lectures, individual/group presentations, in-class discussions, at the end of the course students should be able to:
1. Critically debate key questions on human mobility, global migration flows, asylum and displacement in their quantitative as well as qualitative dimensions.
2. Analyze detailed case-studies, with context-specific and ethnographically informed examples.
3. Understand the mutual definition of migrants, refugees and citizens; of the political exclusion and inclusion; of statelessness, citizenship, and national belonging.
Ability to apply Knowledge and Understanding
1. Assess the policy, political and ethical implications of migration dynamics and public discourses built around them.
2. Go beyond generic and stereotyped representations of migration, belonging and citizenship, by differentiating typologies, categories and dimensions of migratory dynamics
3. Go beyond the ethnocentric vision of globalization and migratory dynamics.
Periodo: Primo semestre
Modalità di valutazione: Esame
Giudizio di valutazione: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Corso singolo
Questo insegnamento non può essere seguito come corso singolo. Puoi trovare gli insegnamenti disponibili consultando il catalogo corsi singoli.
Course syllabus and organization
Edizione unica
Responsabile
Periodo
Primo semestre
Programma
The course consists of Part 1 and Part 2 (six credits) supplemented by Part 3 (9-credits course only).
For PPPA students: 6 credit is the norm, the 9 credits option available only as "Free credits" the exception.
For Philosophical Sciences, Erasmus or other MA courses: both options, 6 or 9 credits, are available if allowed by your study plan.
The course presents a reflection on the contemporary tensions between globalization, human mobility, nation-states, and the creation of borders, considered at the heart of the current production of political identities and forms of citizenship. Its basic aims are to give a solid introduction to the global processes of human mobility, displacement and asylum and to offer, in part 2, a thorough analysis of specific case-studies from the perspective of political anthropology and ethnographic field-research.
Part 1. An introduction to the main elements and debates related to contemporary global migration dynamics:
South-North migration; categories, theories, policies, global dynamics; refugees and asylum; forced and irregularized migration.
Part 2. Understanding irregular migration and containment policies, from Africa to Europe:
through a series of case studies, this part will analyze the forms and motivations of irregular migration from Africa to Europe in an anthropological and historical perspective. In the background, this section addresses the dynamics related to forced displacement, refugees, and irregular migrants on the borders of Europe, analyzing the forms of containment and governance of forced displacement, with particular attention to cases of protracted crisis and the transformation of the regimes of mobility over time, between asylum and irregular mobility.
Part 3 (9 credits only). A Political theory of Migration, Asylum, Refugees and Citizenship:
This seminar-style section will offer a thorough analysis of the book "The figure of the migrant" by Thomas Nail. Rather than viewing migration as the exception to the rule of political fixity and citizenship, the book reinterprets the history of political power from the perspective of the movement that defines the migrant in the first place. Applying "kinopolitics" to several major historical conditions (territorial, political, juridical, and economic) and figures of migration (the nomad, the barbarian, the vagabond, and the proletariat), the book provides a political theory of the migrant and seeks to understand the material, social, and historical conditions under which something like the migrant has come to exist for us today. In this way, it is not only a theory of the migrant but also a theory of the social motions by which migration takes place.
Classroom lectures will involve reading, writing, discussion, presentations.
For PPPA students: 6 credit is the norm, the 9 credits option available only as "Free credits" the exception.
For Philosophical Sciences, Erasmus or other MA courses: both options, 6 or 9 credits, are available if allowed by your study plan.
The course presents a reflection on the contemporary tensions between globalization, human mobility, nation-states, and the creation of borders, considered at the heart of the current production of political identities and forms of citizenship. Its basic aims are to give a solid introduction to the global processes of human mobility, displacement and asylum and to offer, in part 2, a thorough analysis of specific case-studies from the perspective of political anthropology and ethnographic field-research.
Part 1. An introduction to the main elements and debates related to contemporary global migration dynamics:
South-North migration; categories, theories, policies, global dynamics; refugees and asylum; forced and irregularized migration.
Part 2. Understanding irregular migration and containment policies, from Africa to Europe:
through a series of case studies, this part will analyze the forms and motivations of irregular migration from Africa to Europe in an anthropological and historical perspective. In the background, this section addresses the dynamics related to forced displacement, refugees, and irregular migrants on the borders of Europe, analyzing the forms of containment and governance of forced displacement, with particular attention to cases of protracted crisis and the transformation of the regimes of mobility over time, between asylum and irregular mobility.
Part 3 (9 credits only). A Political theory of Migration, Asylum, Refugees and Citizenship:
This seminar-style section will offer a thorough analysis of the book "The figure of the migrant" by Thomas Nail. Rather than viewing migration as the exception to the rule of political fixity and citizenship, the book reinterprets the history of political power from the perspective of the movement that defines the migrant in the first place. Applying "kinopolitics" to several major historical conditions (territorial, political, juridical, and economic) and figures of migration (the nomad, the barbarian, the vagabond, and the proletariat), the book provides a political theory of the migrant and seeks to understand the material, social, and historical conditions under which something like the migrant has come to exist for us today. In this way, it is not only a theory of the migrant but also a theory of the social motions by which migration takes place.
Classroom lectures will involve reading, writing, discussion, presentations.
Prerequisiti
No prior knowledge required
Metodi didattici
Combination of frontal lectures, individual/group presentations, in-class discussions.
Materiale di riferimento
Part 1: Global migration dynamics
Hein de Haas, Stephen Castles, Mark J. Miller,
The Age of Migration : International Population Movements in the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2019, - ONLY Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15)
Anna Triandafyllidou, Routledge handbook of immigration and refugee studies, Second Edition, 2023 - ONLY Chapters 34, 35, 36
(both books are available, also in electronic format, at university's library)
Part 2:
5 out of 8 articles of the Volume 18, Issue 1 (2024) of the Journal of Eastern African Studies titled "Fragments of solidarity : the social worlds of African migrants moving northwards" https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjea20/18/1
Part 3:
Thomas Nail, The Figure of the Migrant, Stanford University Press, 2015.
Alternatively, students can prepare the syllabus for Part 3 of one of the last years of the course "The politcos of mobility...." or "Human development and mobility in a changing world" (since academic year 2022-23)
(Most of the texts will be made available to students during class).
Hein de Haas, Stephen Castles, Mark J. Miller,
The Age of Migration : International Population Movements in the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2019, - ONLY Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15)
Anna Triandafyllidou, Routledge handbook of immigration and refugee studies, Second Edition, 2023 - ONLY Chapters 34, 35, 36
(both books are available, also in electronic format, at university's library)
Part 2:
5 out of 8 articles of the Volume 18, Issue 1 (2024) of the Journal of Eastern African Studies titled "Fragments of solidarity : the social worlds of African migrants moving northwards" https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjea20/18/1
Part 3:
Thomas Nail, The Figure of the Migrant, Stanford University Press, 2015.
Alternatively, students can prepare the syllabus for Part 3 of one of the last years of the course "The politcos of mobility...." or "Human development and mobility in a changing world" (since academic year 2022-23)
(Most of the texts will be made available to students during class).
Modalità di verifica dell’apprendimento e criteri di valutazione
Oral exam assessing students' knowledge of the key topics of the course, theoretical frameworks and methodologies.
Moduli o unità didattiche
Parte A e B
M-DEA/01 - DISCIPLINE DEMOETNOANTROPOLOGICHE - CFU: 3
Lezioni: 40 ore
Docente:
Ciabarri Luca
Parte C
M-DEA/01 - DISCIPLINE DEMOETNOANTROPOLOGICHE - CFU: 3
Lezioni: 20 ore
Docente:
Ciabarri Luca
Professor(s)
Ricevimento:
VENERDì h. 09,30-12,30 Il ricevimento si svolge sia via Teams (o Skype) - con preventiva prenotazione attraverso messaggio Teams al docente all’ora di inizio del ricevimento (e fino alle h. 11.00)- sia in presenza in studio (in questo caso è sufficiente bussare alla porta).
ATTENZIONE: il ricevimento del 27/6 è sospeso causa impegni istituzionali - Studio docente x ricevimento in presenza: via Festa del Perdono 7, Cortile della Ghiacciaia, Piano 1.