IRL/MED 323 Migrations, Borders, Hospitality

This class focuses on analyzing, deconstructing and contextualizing three concepts: Migrations, Borders and Hospitality. Each concept encapsulates complex historical, cultural, legal, political and philosophical dimensions that will be studied and discussed, looking at their interaction and how States, agencies, and a number of other actors, generate so-called 'Refugee Politics'. How do socially constructed values, perceptions and 'national interests' clash and/or shape one another? Do 'rational' or 'irrational' decision-making processes prevail and why? Four contemporary case studies drawn from the Mediterranean, North America and Australia will provide valuable material for thought and analysis. The course pays particular attention to European refugee politics in the Mediterranean during the last decade: from the 'Refugee Crisis' that followed the war in Syria (2015/2016) up to more recent developments involving, in particular, Spain, Italy, Greece and the UK post-Brexit. We will look at the activities of the European Boarder and Coast Guard Agency called 'Frontex' and consider the ways in which Europeans converge/diverge in their approach of immigration. The course concludes with a look at the future of international refugee politics, in particular the legal and policy challenges of climate refugee politics. Students will be given the opportunity to meet with professionals, associations and asylum seekers in the nearby city of Marseille to learn about the realities of Mediterranean migration experiences.