87563 - Politics Of International Migration

Learning outcomes

The aim of this Course is to provide students with analytical skills to assess, research and critically debate the political dimensions of international migrations. At the end of the Course the student is expected to know the layers of governance of the issue at the regional and global level; to acknowledge the main challenges key actors identify with respect to the phenomenon and to be aware of the main resistances to the creation of an effective and efficient governance of the phenomenon.

Course contents

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures aim to introduce students to the discipline's core tenets. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class material and exercises. Students are invited to brainstorm and identify key and workable research questions, to get used to teamwork and pull their weight. They are also required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation is also expected.

The programme is quite dense and requires full dedication by enrolled Students. As part the LM IPE programme, this Course is only for attending students and participation is required.

Readings/Bibliography

MIGRATION: CONCEPTS AND THEORIES

Migration, a global phenomenon

De Haas, H., Castles, S. and Miller, M. (2020), ‘Introduction’ and ‘Categories of Migration’, in The Age of Migration, 6th Edition, pp. 1-14; 19-20; 21-41.

Triandafyllidou, A., Bivand, Erdal M., Marchetti, S., Raghuram, P., Mencutek, Z., Salamońska, J., Scholten, P. and Vintila, D. (2023) Rethinking Migration Studies for 2050, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 22(1), 1-21.

Pope, Amy. (2025). Migration can work for all: plan for replacing broken global system, Foreign Affairs, 104(1), 140-153.

Data and statistics:

Top statistics on Global Migration and Migrants: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/top-statistics-global-migration-migrants

UNHCR (2025), Mid-year Trends: https://www.unhcr.org/mid-year-trends

European Council, Infographics, available at: Migration flows: Eastern, Central and Western routes - Consilium [https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/migration-flows-to-europe/]

EUAA (2025), Asylum Report 2025. Executive Summanry, https://www.euaa.europa.eu/asylum-report-2025

Actors and layers of governance

Betts, A. and Kainz, L. (2020), Power and proliferation: Explaining the fragmentation of global migration governance, Migration Studies, pp. 1-25.

Betts, A. and Milner, J. (2019), Governance of the Global Refugee Regime, World Refugee Council Research Paper 13, May 2019.

Hattem, J. (2024), Is the Humanitarian Protection System Falling Apart or Quietly Evolving?, MPI, available at: Article: Is the Humanitarian Protection System Fal.. | migrationpolicy.org [https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/humanitarian-protection-evolution]

Fine, S. and Pécoud, A. (2018), International Organizations and the multi-level governance of migration, in A. Triandafyllidou (ed), Handbook of Migration and Globalization, Edward Elgar Publishing, Ch. 3.

Migration, International Relations, and critical approaches

Hollifield, J. F. (2004), The Emerging Migration State, The International Migration Review, 38, 3, pp. 885-912.

Adamson, F. B., Chung, E.A. and Hollifield, J. F. (2023) Rethinking the migration state: historicising, decolonising, and disaggregating, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50(3), 559-577.

Hollifield, J. F. (2012), Migration and International Relations, in Rosenblum Marc R. and Tichenor Daniel J. (eds), Oxford Handbook of the Politics of International Migration, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Betts, A. and Loescher, G. (2011), Refugees in International Relations, in Betts, A. and Loescher, G., (eds), Refugees in International Relations, Oxford, Oxford University Press, Introduction.

Migration, foreign policy and migration diplomacy

Teitelbaum, M. (1984), Immigration, refugees, and foreign policy, International Organization, 38(3), 429-450.

Adamson, F. B. (2016), The Growing Importance of Diaspora Politics. Current History, 115(784), 291–297.

Tsourapas, G. (2017), Migration Diplomacy in the Global South: cooperation, coercion and issue linkage in Gaddafi’s Libya, Third World Quarterly 38 (10), 2367-2385.

Greenhill, K. M. (2010), ‘Introduction’, in Weapons of mass migration. Forced displacement, coercion, and foreign policy, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London.

Borders and Global Justice: Liberal Dilemmas vis-à-vis Migration. Class with Elisa Piras, EURAC (10 March)

MIGRATION AND THE EU

The governance of migration in the EU

Zardo, F., & Slominski, P. (2025), "8: Governing the area of freedom, security, and justice", In Handbook of European Union Governance. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 114-126.

Carrera, S. and D. (2025), Irregularising Human Mobility, Springer, available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-74021-3

Ripoll Servent, A. and Arnoux Bellavitis, M. (2026), “EU Institutions. Venues for Restrictions or Liberal Constraints?”, in Cleton, L., Irastorza, N., Weinar, A., & Zhyznomirska, L. (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of the Politics of Migration in Europe (2nd ed.). Routledge, 123-135.

Bauböck, R. (2018), Refugee Protection and Burden Sharing in the European Union, Journal of Common Market Studies, 56(1), 141-156.

The EU coping with external and internal ‘crises’

Dingott Alkopher, T. (2018). Socio-psychological reactions in the EU to immigration: from regaining ontological security to desecuritisation. European Security, 27(3), 314–335.

Lavenex, S. (2019), Common market, normative power or super-state? Conflicting political identities in

EU asylum and immigration policy, Comparative European Politics, 17(4), 567–584.

Suggested readings:

Ambrosini, M., D’Amico, M., Perassi, E. (2025), Borders, Migrations and Human Rights, Ledizioni, https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/99242

Betts, A. and Collier, P. (2017), Refuge. Transforming a Broken Refugee System, Penguin Books.

Migrants' resistance to the European securitisation of borders. Class with Lea Augenstein, University of Tübingen (24 March)

The EU and the external dimension of migration

Hill, C. (2023), Migration: the Dilemma of External relations, in C. Hill, M. Smith and S. Vanhoonacker, eds, International Relations and the European Union, Oxford University Press, 327-351.

Niemann, A. and Zaun, N. (2023), Introduction: EU external migration policy and EU migration governance: introduction, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(12), 2965-2985.

Council of Europe (2025), Externalised asylum and migration policies and human rights law, 5-8; 13-28 (skim the rest) available at: https://rm.coe.int/report-on-externalisation-of-migration-by-michael-o-flaherty-council-o/488028300a

Bisong, A. (2025), Rethinking Externalization of Migration Governance in Europe–Africa Relations: Future Research Directions in a Changing Geopolitical Landscape, International Migration Review, online first.

2^nd PART

(N.B. Readings are intended as preparatory materials for activities to be played in class)

TOPICS IN MIGRATION

Migration and security

Huysmans, Jef and Squire, Vicki (2009). Migration and Security. In: Dunn Cavelty, Myriam and Mauer, Victor eds. Handbook of Security Studies. London, UK: Routledge.

Browning, C.S. (2017), Security and migration: a conceptual exploration, in Bourbeau, P. (ed), Migration and Security, Cheltenham; Edward Elgar Publishing, 39-59.

Class activity

Migration and political elections

The rise of radical nationalist forces is before everyone’s eyes. Why? What does this imply taking into account EU’s institutional bargain?

Grindheim, J.E. (2019), Why Right-Leaning Populism has Grown in the Most Advanced Liberal Democracies of Europe. The Political Quarterly, 90: 757-771. Available here: Why Right‐Leaning Populism has Grown in the Most Advanced Liberal Democracies of Europe - Grindheim - 2019 - The Political Quarterly - Wiley Online Library [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-923X.12765]

Suggested readings:

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Seiger F. et al. (2025), Navigating Migration Narratives: Research Insights And Strategies For Effective Communication. Publications Office of The European Union, Luxembourg. Available at: Https://Data.Europa.Eu/Doi:10.2760/2575741

Class activity

Perspectives and challenges of the Pact on Migration and Asylum. Class with Carmelo Danisi (16 April)

Wolff, S. (2024) The New Pact on Migration: Embedded Illiberalism?. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 62: 113–123.

European Union, Questions and Answers on the Pact on Migration and Asylum: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/pact-migration-and-asylum/questions-and-answers-pact-migration-and-asylum_en

Migration and Schengen

Schengen is among the most important achievements of the EU, but what happens if it gets into trouble? Why are member states questioning it? With which implications?

Ceccorulli, M., (2019) Back to Schengen: the collective securitisation of the EU free-border area, West European Politics, 42, 2, 302-322, available online.

Class activity on the basis of: https://www.europeana.eu/de/exhibitions/schengen-a-europe-without-borders/challenges [https://https/www.europeana.eu/de/exhibitions/schengen-a-europe-without-borders/challenges]

Fighting stereotypes on migration. Presentation (more details in class)

Stereotypes abound in the public debate. Ultimately, this exerts an impact on the political debate and on policy-making. How to counter this challenge?

Teamwork. Students explain their class project through a group presentation

Readings assigned can be easily found on the web. Books chapters are instead available at the Forlì ‘R. Ruffilli’ Library and on Virtuale. All Students should be registered in ‘Virtuale’ to be considered as attending students

Teaching methods

Lectures; Class - debates; Seminars; Class-activities; presentations

Assessment methods

The Course is part of the IPM/IPE Programme. Be sure to consult instructions on attendance. 'Non-attending student' modality is not offered for this Course.

1). Participation (25%) - for this Course, students' active engagement is strongly recommended and will be part of the grading system according to the modality explained during classes. In particular:

- presence

- active participation

- One page handover on Guest Lectures

2). Class presentation (25%)-more info in class

3). Final written exam (50%)

More details will be provided in Class.

Teaching tools

Powerpoints, articles, simulations, video projection

Office hours

See the website of Michela Ceccorulli