Postgraduate Course: Displacement and Development (ODL) (AFRI11007)
This course will be closed from 17 January 2019
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines some of the key debates that displacement raises for students, researchers, and practitioners of development: How should the international community respond to refugee crises? What determines whether transnational diasporas are peace-makers or peace-breakers? Are distinctions between migrants due to poverty, those fleeing conflict, or those escaping natural disasters helpful or hurtful? Do labels like 'migrant', 'refugee','IDP', and 'asylum seekers' facilitate humanitarian protection or political containment? These questions examine the contentious relationship between approaches and 'solutions' to forced displacement and development, critically analysing and assessing both solutions and development for whom, where, and with what (un)intended consequences?
This course provides students with the necessary tools to frame their own nuanced, analytical answers to such questions. By examining key debates in forced migration studies, students learn to evaluate the dynamics of acute displacement as well as the policy responses that have helped shape the politics of 'migration management' in the greater context of international development. These skills and knowledge are imperative to a holistic understanding of international development and engagement with the discipline as theory, practice, and policy.
These aims are pursued by dividing the course into three mutually reinforcing components. The first part provides an introduction to the basic concepts of the study of migration (categorisations of forcibly displaced people; the international legal framework and pertinent institutions; and the drivers of forced migration). The second part focuses on experiences of displacement (life in camps; journeys to countries of asylum; and protracted displacement situations). The third and final part examines durable solutions for refugees and their agency in these processes.
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| Course description |
Forced displacement has recently come to the forefront of popular debate in the guise of Europe's Refugee Crisis, enshrouded in anti-immigrant rhetoric concerning the spread of terrorism and insecurity. The study of forced migration, relatedly, has become vogue. This course aims to debunk the myths associated with these developments. It does so through a rigorous examination of displacement in context as the prolonged and prevailing reality of 1 in 113 people across the world (UNHCR, 2016); and as a complex humanitarian crisis inextricable from approaches to and policies of international development.
The course introduces students to the key theories and concepts needed to understand debates concerning current and continuing developments in displacement and development, and the contentious relationship between these topical disciplines. Students are challenged to engage critically with these academic and popular debates, using the tools and skills gained throughout the course to posit their own analyses and assessments in a rigorous and analytical manner.
The course emphasizes the critical analysis of the nexus between displacement and development, examining approaches to basic concepts, refugee livelihoods, and durable solutions for refugees. In this vein, it is divided into three parts, each corresponding to these inter-related themes. The first part provides an introduction to the basic concepts of the study of migration (categorisations of forcibly displaced people; the international legal framework and pertinent institutions; and the drivers of forced migration). The second part focuses on experiences of displacement (life in camps; journeys to countries of asylum; and protracted displacement situations). The third and final part examines durable solutions for refugees and their agency in these processes.
The module is an adaptation of the on-campus Displacement and Development course to the online distance learning (ODL) platform, and would be part of the proposed ODL MSc in International Development programme. The University of Edinburgh's ODL programmes and courses are renown for the diversity of their virtual classrooms, comprising students from varied backgrounds, generations, professions, and locations across the globe. The ultimate objective of this course is to provide them with the necessary tools, skills, and knowledge to engage in a critical and informed manner with contemporary debates and developments concerning displacement and development as responsible citizens, researchers, activists, practitioners, and policy-makers.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Synthesising and analysing theoretical and empirical material from various sources.
- Critically assessing conclusions and claims by rigorously examining the evidence and assumptions on which they are based.
- Formulating convincing and grounded arguments, verbally and in writing.
- Exercising informed independent thought and critical judgment.
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Reading List
1. Indicative Readings:
General readings
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press is the main reference for the course. Paperback and online editions are available.
There are some other texts that we will refer to throughout the course, or which offer an accessible introduction to the main themes:
Betts, A. 2009. Forced Migration and Global Politics, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford
Gibney, M. 2004. The Ethics and Politics of Asylum: Liberal Democracy and the Response to Refugees, Cambridge University Press
Goodwin-Gill, G. and McAdam, J. 2007. The Refugee in International Law, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press
Harrell-Bond, B.E., 1986. Imposing aid: emergency assistance to refugees. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Loescher, G., Betts, A. and Milner. J. 2012. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): the politics and practice of refugee protection into the 21st century. Routledge (2nd edition).
Long, K., The Point of No Return: Refugees, Rights and Repatriation, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Nyers, P. 2013. Rethinking Refugees: Beyond State of Emergency. London: Routledge.
Price, M. 2009. Rethinking Asylum: History, Purpose, Limits. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Zolberg, A., Suhrke, A and Aguayo, S. 1989. Escape From Violence: Conflict and the Refugee Crisis in the Developing World. Oxford University Press: New York.
Indicative readings, week by week
week 1
Arendt, H. 1958. The Origins of Totalitarianism, Harvest: New York (second edition). Chapter 9: The Decline of the Nation-State and the End of the Rights of Man.
Elie, J. Histories of Refugee and Forced Migration in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. OUP: Oxford.
Long, K. 2013. ¿When refugees stopped being migrants: Movement, labour and humanitarian protection¿, Migration Studies. 1: 4-26.
week 2
Betts, A., 2010. The refugee regime complex. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 29 (1), pp.12-37.
Cohen, R., 2004. The guiding principles on internal displacement: An innovation in international standard setting. Global Governance, 10(4), pp.459-480.
Goodwin-Gill, G. and McAdam, J. 2007. The Refugee in International Law, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press ¿ especially introduction, p.1-14
week 3
Chapters 25-27 (25 Lischer, S. Conflict and Crisis-induced Displacemennt ; 26 McDowell, C. Development-induced Displacement ; 27 Zetter R. and Morissey J. The environement-mobility nexus) in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Mberu, B.U., 2016. African Migration and Population Distribution: Recent Trends, Methodological Challenges and Policy Issues. in International Handbook of Migration and Population Distribution (pp. 245-267). Springer Netherlands.
week 4
20. Anderson, B. Trafficking and Smuggling in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Anderson, Bridget. 'Where¿s the Harm in That? Immigration Enforcement, Trafficking, and the Protection of Migrants¿ Rights'. American Behavioral Scientist 56.9 (2012): 1241-1257.
Van Hear, Nicholas. 2004 ¿I Went as Far as My Money Would Take Me': Conflict, Forced Migration and Class. Centre on Migration, Policy & Society.
week 5
Black, Richard. 'Putting refugees in camps'. Forced Migration Review 2 (1998): 4-7.
Bakewell, O. Encampment and Self-settlement in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Landau L. Urban Refugees and IDPS. In Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
week 6
Milner, J. Protracted Refugee Situations in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Crisp, Jeff. 'No solutions in sight: the problem of protracted refugee situations in Africa'. 2005. Displacement Risks in Africa 17.
Loescher, G et al. 2007. 'Protracted refugee situations and the regional dynamics of peacebuilding: Opinion'. Conflict, Security & Development. 7.3: 491-501.
week 7
Van Selm, J. Resettlement. in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Saunders, N., 2014. Paradigm shift or business as usual? An historical reappraisal of the 'shift¿ to securitisation of refugee protection. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 33(3), pp.69-92.
Jones, W. and Teytelboym, A., 2016. Choices, preferences and priorities in a matching system for refugees. Forced Migration Review, (51), p.80.
week 8
Hovil, L. Local Integration. in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Crisp, J. 2004 The local integration and local settlement of refugees: a conceptual and historical analysis. UNHCR, Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit.
Fielden, A. 2008. Local integration: an under-reported solution to protracted refugee situations. UNHCR, Policy Development and Evaluation Service, 2008.
week 9
Bradley, M. 2008. 'Back to basics: The conditions of just refugee returns'.Journal of Refugee Studies. 21.3: 285-304.
Hammond, L. 'Voluntary' Repatriation and Reintegration. in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Long, K. 2013. The Point of No Return: Refugees, Rights and Repatriation, Oxford: Oxford University Press (focus on chapters 5 and 7)
week 10
Bakewell, O. 2008. 'Keeping Them in Their Place: The ambivalent relationship between development and migration in Africa', Third World Quarterly 29(7): 1341-58
Long, Katy. Rethinking Durable Solutions in Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K., & Sigona, N. (Eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: OUP.
Adepoju, A., Boulton, A. and Levin, M. 2010. 'Promoting Integration Through Mobility: Free Movement Under Ecowas'. Refugee Survey Quarterly. 29.3: 120-144.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Synthesising and analysing theoretical and empirical material from various sources.
2. Critically assessing conclusions and claims by rigorously examining the evidence and assumptions on which they are based.
3. Formulating convincing and grounded arguments, verbally and in writing.
4. Exercising informed independent thought and critical judgment.
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Jean-Benoit Falisse
Tel: (0131 6)51 1632
Email: JB.Falisse@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Maria Brichs
Tel: (0131 6)51 3205
Email: mbrichs@ed.ac.uk |
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