Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM161: Forced Migration in International Relations

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

1)    To introduce you to the literature and the key historical, socioeconomic, legal and political issues in forced migration, including the rules, norms and institutions of the international refugee regime, the wider global governance of forced migration and the international cooperation problems that affect these.

2) To apply theories of International Relations (IR) in order to critically analyse the root causes and consequences of forced migration as well as policy responses to it.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate a contextualised and critical understanding of the key historical, socioeconomic, legal and political issues in forced migration;
2. Apply IR theories to the analysis of the root causes, consequences and policy responses to forced migration, including its global governance in general and the international refugee regime in particular;
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Find, use and analyse secondary and primary data relevant to specific issues in politics and IR;
4. Place contemporary political issues in larger contexts;
5. Deploy critical arguments in analysing political issues and evaluating sources;
Personal and Key Skills6. Work independently and in a group, including the presentation of material for group discussion;
7. Demonstrate analytical skills and the ability to digest, select and organise material;
8. Demonstrate writing skills including the ability to produce well organised and coherent essays to a deadline, practice in articulating and defending positions on tutorial topics.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Betts, A. and G. Loescher (eds.) (2011) Refugees in International Relations (Oxford University Press).

Betts, A. (2009) Forced Migration and Global Politics (Wiley).

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., G. Loescher, K. Long and N. Sigona (eds.) (2014) The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (Oxford University Press).

Agamben, G. (1998) Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (Stanford University Press).

Agier, M. (2008) On the Margins of the World: The Refugee Experience Today (Polity Press).

Agier, M. (2011) Managing the Undesirables: Refugee Camps and Humanitarian Government (Polity Press).

Barnett, M. (2011) Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism (Cornell University Press).

Black, R. and K. Koser (eds.) (1999) The End of Refugee Cycle? Refugee Repatriation and Reconstruction (Berghahn).

Chatty, D. (2010) Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East (Cambridge University Press).

Dumper, M. (ed.) (2006) Palestinian Refugee Repatriation: Global Perspectives (Routledge).

Dumper, M. (2007) The Future for Palestinian Refugees: Toward Equity and Peace (Lynne Rienner).

Goodwin-Gill, G. and J. McAdam (2007) The Refugee in International Law (3rd ed.) (Oxford University Press).

Haddad, E. (2008) The Refugee in International Society: Between Sovereigns (Cambridge University Press).

Hammerstad, A. (2014) The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor: UNHCR, Refugee Protection, and Security (Oxford University Press).

Hyndman, J. (2000) Managing Displacement: Refugees and the Politics of Humanitarianism (Minnesota University Press).

Larking, E. (2014) Refugees and the Myth of Human Rights: Life outside the Pale of the Law (Ashgate).

Loescher, G. (1993) Beyond Charity: International Cooperation and the Global Refugee Crisis (Oxford University Press).

Marfleet, P. (2006) Refugees in a Global Era (Palgrave Macmillan).

Marrus, M. (1985) The Unwanted: European Refugees in the Twentieth Century (Oxford University Press)

Nyers, P. (2006) Rethinking Refugees: Beyond State of Emergency (Routledge).

Steiner, N., M. Gibney and G. Loescher (eds.) (2003) Problems of Protection: The UNHCR, Refugees and Human Rights in the 21st Century (Routledge).