Gendered Geographies of Power, Migration and Social Change in the Mediterranean 3700-ISSC-24-GGPMSC
This course addresses the processes of human mobility and social change in the Mediterranean region through the lens of power relations based on gender and generations, drawing on the concept of Gendered Geographies of Power (Mahler & Pessar, 2001). It will also employ the sociological categories of generation and life course as conceptual frames.
We will explore the demographic phenomena such as the bulge of young populations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA, also referred to as West Asia and North Africa – WANA) and the aging population in Southern Europe, considering their socio-political consequences. We will look at elderly care in families (e.g. Fernández-Reino & González-Ferrer, 2019; Kronfol et al., 2015), formal care provision, including by immigrant care workers (Bettio et al., 2006; Sciortino, 2004). Furthermore we will analyse and discuss the gendered consequences of economic and political crises in countries of the regions (Khalil, 2014; Moreno, 2004). We will look at the specificity of gendered experiences of people participating in various types of mobility: family migration, retirement migration, asylum seeking, irregular migration (Ahmed, 2015; Salih, 2002; Schmoll, 2024). Attention will be devoted also to minorities and intersectionally vulnerable groups and their agency vis-à-vis the conservative regimes and discrimination (Coll-Planas et al., 2021; Gallo & Scrinzi, 2016, Rosati et al., 2021).
These processes affect societies located on land and seaside, in geographic spaces that are also subject to power relations. Therefore we will look at land ownership and management, home-ownership and national welfare state (Poggio, 2011) and real estate markets that attract retirement migrants from wealthier societies than the local populations (Ahmed, 2015). Furthermore, we will explore how the inequalities based on generational hierarchies and gendered power relations are exacerbated by climate change, which threatens livelihoods by destabilizing food production and access to safe water (Sobczak-Szelc & Fekih, 2020; Van Praag 2022). The precarious agriculture of Southern Europe is at the same time dependent on manual labour provided by the migrant workers displaced from countries further south (Corrado et al., 2016).
The course is suitable for students interested in combining the categories of gender, generation and power with the lived experience context of households, families, local communities and livelihoods as well as the spatial contexts of home, land and natural environment. Students will be invited to critically engage with academic contributions from various disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, political science and development studies, as well as critical journalism and creative content to develop multifaceted analyses of selected social phenomena in the region. This workshop-style class will combine reading-based discussions and small exercises with larger individual or group tasks devoted to in-depth analysis of selected topics or case studies, culminating in class presentations.
Rodzaj przedmiotu
Założenia (opisowo)
Koordynatorzy przedmiotu
Efekty kształcenia
After completing the course, students will have gained and/or developed the following knowledge, skills and competences:
a. Knowledge:
- Understands the relationships between various dimensions of social change or social experience, especially with regard to migration, modernity and diversity. (K_W02)
- Is aware of concepts and terms used in the humanities and social sciences in order to depict and discuss complex social phenomena, such as migration and social diversity, as well as the debates within and between individual disciplines in the study of these phenomena. (K_W04)
b. Abilities:
K_U01 - Is able to select and critically assess facts and opinions coming from various scientific, popular science, journalistic and other sources.
K_U02 - Is able to find, assess and employ the necessary data for desk research and to support one’s arguments.
K_U06 - Is able to present the results of individual and team academic work in an appropriate form of a structured and argued statement, both in the form of a written report and an oral presentation (conference talk or voice in a discussion). Knows the rules of using and citing data sources, including digital sources. At the same time, adheres to ethical principles, including those related to copyrights.
K_U08 - Is able to prepare written or oral/ visual content for the general public (journalistic, popular science) and with functional characteristics appropriate for the chosen medium.
K_U11 - Is able to plan and organize group work (define goals, stages, roles, select methods of research and presentation). Is able to take part in teamwork in various roles.
c. Social competences:
K_K02 - Is ready to take up teamwork - also in a research team – both as a team member and leader. Is able to appraise and critique the work of other team members and other teams in a polite and constructive way.
Kryteria oceniania
Class participation (regular reading and discussion) – 50%
Class presentation (topic/case studies) – 50%
The assessment will be done jointly by the lecturer, group and self-evaluation.
Absences:
4 absences are permissible:
5+ absences require individual consultation and risk failing to receive credits.
Literatura
Academic literature:
Ahmed, A. (2015). Retiring to Spain: Women’s Narratives of Nostalgia, Belonging and Community. Policy Press.
Bettio, F., Simonazzi, A., & Villa, P. (2006). Change in care regimes and female migration: The „care drain” in the Mediterranean. Journal of European Social Policy, 16(3), 271–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928706065598
Coll-Planas, G., García-Romeral, G., & Martí Plademunt, B. (2021). Doing, being and verbalizing: Narratives of queer migrants from Muslim backgrounds in Spain. Sexualities, 24(8), 984–1002. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460720944589
Corrado, A., Castro, C. de, & Perrotta, D. (2016). Migration and Agriculture: Mobility and change in the Mediterranean area. Routledge.
Gallo, E., & Scrinzi, F. (2016). Gender, Racism, and Migrant Reproductive Labour in Italy and Europe. In: E. Gallo & F. Scrinzi (Eds.), Migration, Masculinities and Reproductive Labour: Men of the Home (pp. 85–129). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-37978-8_3
Khalil, A. (2014). Gender paradoxes of the Arab Spring. The Journal of North African Studies, 19(2), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2014.885782
King, R. (2011). ‘Mediterranean Homelands’: Transnational Perspectives on Continuing the Migratory Tradition across Generations. Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 20(2), 185–206.
Kraler, A., Kofman, E., Kohli, M., & Schmoll, C. (2011). Gender, Generations and the Family in International Migration. Amsterdam University Press.
Kronfol, N. M., Rizk, A., & Siba, M. (2015). Ageing and intergenerational family ties in Arab countries. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 21(11), 835–843. https://doi.org/10.26719/2015.21.11.835
Mahler, S. J., & Pessar, P. R. (2001). Gendered Geographies of Power: Analyzing Gender Across Transnational Spaces. Identities, 7(4), 441–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2001.9962675
Moreno, L. (2004). Spain’s Transition to New Risks: A Farewell to ‘Superwomen’. In: P. Taylor-Gooby (Red.), New Risks, New Welfare (pp. 133–156). Oxford University PressOxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/019926726X.003.0006
Poggio, T. (2011). The Housing Pillar of the Mediterranean Welfare Regime: Relations between Home Ownership and other Dimensions of Welfare in Italy. In: Beyond Home Ownership. Routledge.
Rosati, F., Coletta, V., Pistella, J., Scandurra, C., Laghi, F., & Baiocco, R. (2021). Experiences of Life and Intersectionality of Transgender Refugees Living in Italy: A Qualitative Approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), Article 23. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312385
Salih, R. (2002). Shifting Meanings of „Home” consumption and identity in Moroccan women’s transnational practices between Italy and Morocco. In: N. Al-Ali & K. Koser (Red.), New Approaches to Migration?.... (pp. 51–67). Routledge.
Schmoll, C. (2024). Women and Borders in the Mediterranean: The Wretched of the Sea. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45097-6
Sciortino, G. (2004). Immigration in a Mediterranean Welfare State: The Italian Experience in Comparative Perspective. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 6(2), 111–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/1387698042000273442
Sobczak-Szelc, K., & Fekih, N. (2020). Migration as one of several adaptation strategies for environmental limitations in Tunisia: Evidence from El Faouar. Comparative Migration Studies, 8(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-019-0163-1
Timmerman, C., Fonseca, M. L., Praag, L. V., & Pereira, S. (2018). Gender and Migration: A Gender-Sensitive Approach to Migration Dynamics. Leuven University Press.
Van Praag, L. (2022). Gender, Environmental Change, and Migration Aspirations and Abilities in Tangier and Tinghir, Morocco. Human Ecology, 50(1), 23–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-021-00296-z
Vullnetari, J., & King, R. (2015). ‘Washing men’s feet’: Gender, care and migration in Albania during and after communism. Gender, Place & Culture, 23(2), 198–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2015.1013447
Online resources:
Future Migration Scenarios for Europe Horizon 2020 Project website: https://futuremigration.eu/all-case-study-areas/
Alice Evans’ blog The Great Gender Divergence: https://www.ggd.world/
Więcej informacji
Dodatkowe informacje (np. o kalendarzu rejestracji, prowadzących zajęcia, lokalizacji i terminach zajęć) mogą być dostępne w serwisie USOSweb: