In this course we will engage with controversial academic and policy debates about immigrants, their children and their integration. We will start by examining classical theories of immigrant integration that originated in the USA and were later applied to the European context. We will then challenge the concept of integration and its assumptions by questioning who is the target of integration, into what immigrants and their children are expected to integrate and to whose benefit. Finally, we will engage with how membership and belonging are constructed and experienced, and with how immigrant status, race and ethnicity interact with other forms of inequalities.
There is no prerequisite for this course. Students from any social science discipline may be interested in this course, as the study of migration and its consequences cuts across sociology, economics, demography and political science.
Aims
- To familiarise students with the major theoretical perspectives on immigrant integration
- To invite students to question why and how integration is constructed
- To have students practise discussing and evaluating theoretical perspectives with empirical data on socioeconomic, social, and political outcomes of the children of immigrants
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Discuss and evaluate theoretical perspectives on immigrant integration
- Apply theoretical concepts to the study of immigrant-native and ethnic inequality
- Unpack the concept of integration, including its historical origins and policy application
- Critically evaluate the possibilities and limitations of nation-state centred models of immigrant intra- and intergenerational change
- Engage with academic and policy debates on the causes and consequences of immigrant-native and ethnic inequality, and how to best measure them
- Appraise and develop practical and creative policy responses to the challenges and opportunities of international migration and ethnic diversity