Conducted in terms: 2024L, 2025L

Erasmus code: 14.6

ISCED code: 0312

ECTS credits: 2

Language: Polish

Organized by: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies

International migrations 2104-L-D6MIMI

Note on course structure:
The topics listed in the course outline may extend over more than one class session and do not necessarily correspond one-to-one with individual meetings. Depending on the pace of the course and current developments, selected topics may be combined or addressed in a different order than indicated in the outline.

Class 1. International Migration: Introduction
Definition of international migration and conceptual ambiguities. Basic terms and categories of migration. Measurement of migratory processes and interpretation of migration data. Scale and patterns of international migration.
Key focus: how migration is defined, counted, and analysed.
Class 2. International Migration in Historical Perspective
History of human migration and mobility. Major migration waves and structural turning points. Background of contemporary migration processes, with a primary focus on Europe and awareness of regional differences worldwide.
Key focus: historical roots of present-day migration patterns.

Class 3. Theories of International Migration
Scientific explanations of migration. Economic, sociological, political, and interdisciplinary approaches. Strengths and limits of migration theories. Challenges of theorising migration processes.
Key focus: theoretical frameworks for analysing migration.

Class 4. Migration and States: Migration Policy
The role of the state in regulating migration. Construction of immigration policy. Effectiveness of migration policies. The liberal paradox in migration governance. State interests, control, and international constraints.
Key focus: migration from the perspective of the state.

Class 5. European Union Migration Governance
The European Union as a multilevel system of migration governance. Division of competences between the EU and member states. The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. Common European Asylum System, border management, and externalisation of migration control. The EU New Pact on Migration and Asylum: objectives, key instruments, solidarity mechanisms, responsibility-sharing, and ongoing political controversies. Tensions between solidarity, responsibility, and sovereignty.
Key focus: Europeanisation and reform of migration and asylum policies.

Class 7–8. Case Study: Poland and Migration Pressure
Migration pressure and state responses. Poland’s approach to international refugee and migration regimes. Contestation, compliance, and selective implementation of international norms.
Key focus: empirical application of theories and policy analysis.

Class 9. International Migration and Climate Change
Links between environmental change and migration. Climate-induced displacement and debates on “climate refugees.” Legal and political challenges related to environmental migration. State and international responses.
Key focus: climate change as an emerging driver of migration.

Class 10. Migrants in Receiving States
Integration of immigrants: social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions. Models of integration: assimilation versus multiculturalism. Diasporas and transnational communities. Political participation of immigrants.
Key focus: migrants as actors within receiving societies.

Class 11. International Institutions and Migration Governance
Global and regional migration governance. Role of the United Nations, IOM, and UNHCR. Global Compact for Migration and Global Compact on Refugees. Migration governance indicators. Environmental challenges and international coordination.
Key focus: international regulation and governance of migration.

Type of course

obligatory courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

The course aims to analyse international migration by examining its drivers, conditions, and consequences. It addresses core questions: why people move, under what circumstances international migration occurs, and what effects it produces. To this end, the course explores migration flows from both historical and contemporary perspectives and introduces key migration theories as analytical frameworks for interpreting empirical patterns and data.Special attention will be paid to the relationships between migration, migrants, and states, including the role of the state in regulating mobility, protecting migrants’ rights, and governing migration at both national and international levels.

Course coordinators

Term 2024L:

Iwona Wyciechowska

Term 2025L:

Justyna Nakonieczna-Bartosiewicz

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the participant:

has knowledge and understanding of the key facts, phenomena, and problems related to international migration (K_W01; K_W03);

has knowledge and understanding of the legal, socio-economic, and political determinants of international migration, as well as international cooperation in the field of migration (K_W05);

is able to correctly interpret phenomena in the area of international migration, provide well-grounded arguments, and formulate coherent conclusions concerning international migration (K_U01; K_U02).

After completing the course, the participant becomes familiar with the core academic literature on international migration and with the main research trends in the field of international migration (K_K03; K_K05).

Assessment criteria

Test / Project / Final Paper

Form of assessment: test conducted during the final class.

Permitted level of AI use during the course: 2

Passing threshold: 60%

GRADING SCALE:

95–100%: very good
88–94%: good plus
75–87%: good
68–74%: satisfactory plus
60–67%: satisfactory
0–59%: fail

Bibliography

Foundational readings:
- 30 wykładów o migracjach, red. nauk. M.Lesinska, M. Okólski, WUW, Warszawa 2023.
-de Haas, H. How Migration Really Works, Penguing Books, 2024 (alternatively in Polish trasnlation)

- de Haas, H., S. Castles, i M. J. Miller. The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. 6th ed. London / New York / Dublin: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.

- Hollifield, J. F., i N. Foley, eds. Understanding Global Migration. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Additional readings:

Alba, R., i V. Nee. “Rethinking Assimilation Theory for a New Era of Immigration.” International Migration Review 31 (1997): 826–874.

Anderson, R., i S. Blinder. “Briefing: Who Counts as a Migrant? Definitions and their Consequences.” The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, 17 January 2017. http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Briefing-Who_Counts_Migrant.pdf

Arango, J. “Explaining Migration.” International Social Science Journal 165 (2000): 283–296.

Brubaker, R. “The Return of Assimilation? Changing Perspectives on Immigration and Its Sequels in France, Germany, and the United States.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 24(4) (2001): 531–548.

Castles, S. “Why Migration Policies Fail.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 27(2) (2004): 205–227.

Czaika, M., and H. de Haas. “The Effectiveness of Immigration Policies.” Population and Development Review 39, no. 3 (2013): 487–508. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23655336.

Graham, P., i J. Hoffman. Introduction to Political Theory. 4th ed. London: Routledge, 2022.

Gurak, D. T., i F. Caces. “Migration Networks and the Shaping of Migration Systems.” W International Migration Systems: A Global Approach, red. M. Kritz, L. L. Lim, i H. Zlotnik, 150–176. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992.

Hollifield, J. F. “The Emerging Migration State.” International Migration Review 38 (2004): 885–912. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00223.x

Joppke, C. “Immigration Challenges the Nation-State.” W Challenge to the Nation-State, 5–48. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Joppke, C. “Multiculturalism and Immigration: A Comparison of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain.” Theory and Society 25(4) (1996): 449–500.

Kymlicka, W. “Immigration, Citizenship, Multiculturalism: Exploring the Links.” W The Politics of Immigration, red. S. Spencer, 195–208. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.

Massey, D. S., et al. “Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal.” Population and Development Review 19(3) (1993): 431–466. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2938462

Münz, R. “A Continent of Migration: European Mass Migration in the Twentieth Century.” New Community 22(2) (1996): 201–226.

Poulain, M., i N. Perrin. “Is the Measurement of International Migration Flows Improving in Europe?” Working Paper No. 12, UN Statistical Commission and EUROSTAT, 16 May 2001.

Rex, J. “Multiculturalism and Political Integration in Modern Nation States.” W Migration in the New Europe: East–West Revisited, red. A. Górny i P. Ruspini. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Rumbaut, R. G. “Assimilation and Its Discontents.” W Race and Ethnicity: Comparative and Theoretical Approaches, red. J. Stone i R. Dennis, 237–259. Malden: Blackwell, 2003.

Salt, J., i J. Stein. “Migration as a Business.” International Migration 35(4) (1997): 467–494.

Shacknove, A. E. “Who Is a Refugee?” Ethics 95(2) (1985): 274–284.

Thielemann, E. “Does Policy Matter? On Governments’ Attempts to Control Unwanted Migration.” European Institute Working Paper 2003-02 (2004): 1–33.

Weiner, M. “Security, Stability, and International Migration.” International Security 17(3) (1992–1993): 91–126. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2539131

Wood, W. B. “Forced Migration: Local Conflicts and International Dilemmas.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 84(4) (1994): 607–634.

• URL – http://www.migrationinformation.org

• URL – http://www.migrationpolicy.org

• URL- https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2104-L-D6MIMI in USOSweb