Postgraduate Course: Displacement and Development (PGSP11369)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines some of the key questions that displacement raises for those concerned with development. How should the international community respond to refugee crises? Can transnational diaspora help build peace - or ferment war? Should we distinguish between migrants from poverty, those fleeing conflict or other civilians trapped in crisis? Do labels like "refugee" "IDP" and "asylum seeker" serve to provide humanitarian protection - or legitimise political containment?
Development and Displacement will provide students with the necessary tools to frame their own critical answers to such questions, through examining theory and a number of case studies including (but not limited to) Afghanistan, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Kosovo, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Syria. Examining key issues in Forced Migration studies - with a particular focus on movements in conflict and crisis - the course will allow students to analyse not only the dynamics of acute displacement crises, but also the policy responses that have helped to shape the longer-term politics of "migration management". |
| Course description |
Week 1: What is forced migration? Labels, categories and "the refugee problem"
Week 2: Legal approaches: Conventions, soft law and humanitarian protection
Week 3: The dynamics of displacement: causes and consequences
Week 4: The journey: choices in flight (smuggling, trafficking)
Week 5: From emergency to everydaylife: from the camp to the city
Week 6: Innovative learning week
Week 7: From humanitarianism to development: unlocking protracted displacement?
Week 8: Towards durable solutions: Resettlement and experiences of displacement in the West
Week 9: Local integration
Week 10: Repatriation and peace-building
Week 11: Migration as a solution?
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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
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 60 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Students will deliver a 3500-word coursework essay (80%) and complete a portfolio activity of between 800 to 1000 words (20%). |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the key categorisation(s) and types of forced migrations, and their implication for humanitarian assistance to and durable solutions for refugees.
- Apply the analytical toolbox gained in the course (knowledge, skills, and understanding) to academic and day-to-day engagement with research and news about forced migration. Be able to de-construct (forced) migrations ¿myths¿.
- Critically analyse, synthesize, and evaluate research and contemporary debates about the ¿solutions¿ for refugee crises.
- Be able to communicate your analysis of forced migration issues to a lay and academic audience.
- Be able to initiate autonomous research about refugee situations and issues that are not covered in the course (demonstrate some acquaintance with the main sources of information and research methodologies).
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Reading List
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., (1986) Imposing Aid. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Loescher, G. (2001). The UNHCR and world politics: A perilous path. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Loescher, G., Betts, A. and Milner. J., The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): the politics and practice of refugee protection into the 21st century. Routledge, 2012 (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
Main journals and working paper series:
The Journal of Refugee Studies, Oxford University Press
Refugee Studies Quarterly, Oxford University Press
Migration Studies, Oxford University Press
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Taylor and Francis
Forced Migration Review, Refugee Studies Programme, University of Oxford
Two working paper series are also worth looking at:
New Issues in Refugee Research (UNHCR, now discontinued)
Refugee Studies Centre Working Papers, University of Oxford
More references can also be found through the Forced Migration Online Digital Library
Blogs and media:
A few blog are worth checking from time to time: Migration and Citizens from Katy Long, the former convenor of this course, the Migrationist, the World Bank blogs on refugees and migrations, etc.
Finally, a few games have been developed to help the general audience understand the experiences of the refugees, feel free to have a look. The focus is often on the journey. The first one, Against all Odds, was developed by UNHCR. The BBC and the Guardian recently developed their own, focussing on the Syrian refugees. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Samuel Spiegel
Tel:
Email: sam.spiegel@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Teri Beveridge
Tel: (0131 6)51 3244
Email: tbeveri2@ed.ac.uk |
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