Migration, Mobilities & Sustainable Futures

Course goals

After successful completion of the course the students are able:
 

1. to describe the contents and dynamics of the migration and development debate, have acquired knowledge of the different topics and concepts, and are able to position these in the broader context of sustainable development policy discourse.
2. to chart and analyse the relation between different kinds of migration/mobilities flows and development with critical, context (spatial-temporal) sensitive perspectives.
3. to interpret and evaluate how migration and mobilities are framed, and analyse the implications
4. to critically reflect on policy interventions (such as the Sustainable Development Goals) and interpret their assumptions and impact
5. to develop policy brief writing skills and to communicate their knowledge, individually and in groups.

Content

In the past few decades, our world has become increasingly interconnected by flows of people, commodities, money, information, ideas, knowledge, biophysical resources, policies and collective actions. The possibility for inclusive and sustainable development depends very much on the direction and scale of these flows, as they have direct consequences for people’s livelihood opportunities. As a result of new and old flows, global landscapes are undergoing rapid transformations. The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear how mobility-dependent our world has become. Using human migration and other forms of mobilities (e.g. shorter, circular journeys, business trips, tourism) as a starting point, we will examine how these movements share complex and dynamic relations with other flows (of goods, capital, resources, institutions, knowledge and development paradigms etc.). Hence, instead of focusing on a particular human mobility flow narrowly, we situate these flows in a mobility framework/context. We will pay particular attention to the ‘politics of mobility’ to investigate the patterns and experiences, causes and effects of these ‘mobility bundles’.

With ample case-studies from diverse contexts, we will analyse how human mobilities and associate flows, in a relational manner, shape resource use, affect people’s ability to improve their livelihood, offer development opportunities or pose constraints to institutions (e.g. firms or public organisations) and places (cities, regions, countries etc.). We will examine and reflect on the ways in which diverse forms of mobilities are being framed, linked and managed in development policies, practices and discourses. We will also reflect on the impact of current events in redistributing mobilities, and in turn development opportunities or challenges across people, socio-economic domains, places and time.