Inclusion of immigrants and refugees: Inequality and cohesion

Course goals

• Knowledge of the main problems in immigrant inclusion studies
• Skills in deriving testable hypotheses from the main theories explaining immigrant inclusion
• Being able to evaluate empirical studies on immigrant inclusion

These goals are assessed as follows:

• The paper (integration report) elaborates on a specific problem in immigrant inclusion (a specific integration outcome for several immigrant groups or in several countries, or several outcomes for one immigrant group in a specific  country), based on reviewing existing literature and empirical data and providing policy recommendations.
• The ability to derive testable hypotheses is tested during the exam where one or several questions require students to formulate hypotheses based on the theories discussed in the course.
• The ability to evaluate empirical studies on immigrant integration is tested in the exam, the paper (which is based on a review of existing empirical evidence) and the presentation.

Content

The course reviews key questions, theories and empirical research on inclusion and participation of immigrants and their children in Western countries. The course addresses the multidimensional integration concept and covers theoretical developments as well as empirical research. In the first part of the course a theoretical discussion on the concept of integration and core theories on integration will be addressed. Main structural and socio-cultural dimensions of immigrant integration are then reviewed in the course and theories and empirical studies are discussed that explain the position of immigrants and their children. Special emphasis is placed on understanding immigrant inclusion within the context of the receiving society, including the role of integration policies and societal reception of newcomers. Additionally, the course explores the differing factors and processes of inclusion for various migrant groups, distinguishing between the experiences of voluntary migrants—such as family and labour migrants—with those of forced migrants, primarily refugees.