APG5065 - Governing migration: Refugees, borders and development - 2017

In recent decades, migration has become a core concern for International Relations and Development strategists and practitioners. How can we explain and respond to the governance challenges posed by irregular labour migration and spontaneous flows of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people? What is the relationship between security, development and different kinds of population movements? This unit provides students with an overview of global governance in relation to migration, focusing on the migration-development nexus and humanitarian responses to forced migration. Students will undertake a thorough critique of the theory and practice of governance across these areas. Through a range of learning activities, students will examine competing frameworks for governance and alternative possibilities for analysis and action in the work of development and governance agencies associated with migration and border control.

On completion of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Understand key concepts and diverse factors influencing development-related migration flows and associated regulatory and humanitarian interventions;
2. Critically analyse and evaluate policy proposals, regulatory frameworks, institutional apparatus and normative arguments in relation to the governance of migration;
3. Identify and connect with global networks of government agencies, inter-governmental institutions, policy think-tanks, research centres, NGOs, advocacy and activist organizations related to migration and development;
4. Recognise the ways in which diverse theoretical perspectives lead to alternative and competing possibilities for analysis and action in the work of development and other agencies associated with migration;
5. Prepare critically informed oral and written work appropriate for studies at postgraduate level and appropriate for professional engagement in the development sector;

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Dr Benjamin MacQueen

Governance and security

International development practice

International relations