SP410      Half Unit
Migration: Current Research, Critical Approaches

This information is for the 2023/24 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Emma Platt

Availability

This course is compulsory on the MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Migration). This course is available on the MSc in Inequalities and Social Science, MSc in International Migration and Public Policy, MSc in International Migration and Public Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in International Social and Public Policy, MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Development), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Education), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (LSE and Fudan), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Non-Governmental Organisations) and MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Research). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

All Social Policy Courses are ‘Controlled Access’. Please see the link below for further details on the allocation process.

https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/services/course-choice/controlled-access-courses

Course content

This interdisciplinary course addresses contemporary global migration issues with reference to both developing and developed country contexts, and to different patterns and forms of migration. The course examines the relationship between migration and social and public policies, including the implications for how migrants and migration are conceptualised, for inequalities in the movement of people, for welfare systems, and for the impacts of migration in countries of origin and destination. Teaching across the course integrates critical theoretical approaches to migration with applications using different migration-related research methods.

Teaching

All teaching will be in accordance with the LSE Academic Code (https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/lse-academic-code) which specifies a "minimum of two hours taught contact time per week when the course is running in the Autumn Term (AT) and/or Winter Term (WT)". Social Policy courses are predominantly taught through a combination of in-person Lectures and In person classes/seminars. Further information will be provided by the Course Convenor in the first lecture of the course.

 

This course is taught in AT.

Formative coursework

Students are expected to participate actively in seminars and course activities, to prepare a group presentation, and to write a formative essay linked to their written summative assignment.

Indicative reading

  • Castles, de Haas & Miller (2013) The Age of Migration;
  • Shachar (2009) The Birthright Lottery: Citizenship and Global Inequality.
  • Migali, S. and Scipioni, M. (2019) “Who’s About to Leave? A Global Survey of Aspirations and Intentions to Migrate.” International Migration, 57: 181-200.
  • Lee, J. et al. (2014) "The International Migration Review at 50: Reflecting on Half a Century of International Migration Research and Looking Ahead", International Migration Review, 48: Anniversary Issue, S3–S36.
  • Laczko, F.  and Aghazarm, C. (2009) Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Assessing the Evidence. Geneva: International Organization for Migration (IOM).
  • Piper (ed) (2008) New Perspectives on Gender and Migration: Livelihood, Rights and Entitlements.
  • Faist, Bilecen, Barglowski & Sienkiewicz (2015) "Transnational Social Protection: Migrants' Strategies and Patterns of Inequalities", Population, Space and Place, 21, 193-202.
  • FitzGerald (2012) "A Comparativist Manifesto for International Migration Studies" Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35: 10, 1725-1740.
  • Czaika, M. and De Haas, H. (2013) "The Effectiveness of Migration Policies", Population and Development Review, 39: 3, 487-508.

Assessment

Coursework (100%) in the WT.

Student performance results

(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 38.6
Merit 55.7
Pass 5.7
Fail 0

Key facts

Department: Social Policy

Total students 2022/23: 35

Average class size 2022/23: 18

Controlled access 2022/23: Yes

Lecture capture used 2022/23: Yes (MT)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication