B029129 - SOCIOLOGY OF MIGRATIONS

Italian

The course aims to provide students with conceptual and analytical tools for the study of migration in a sociological perspective. At the end of the course, the student will have acquired: a general framework on the main interpretative models of international migration; the ability to use the appropriate language and sociological categories referable to the figure of the foreigner and to the models of interaction between the migrant and the society of arrival; the methodological skills to detect, analyse and interpret the main transformations of contemporary societies following migration processes; awareness of the main challenges in developing effective interventions related to the governance of the phenomenon.

In the first part of the course: the historical and contemporary causes of migration; the multilevel governance of immigration policies; the difference between economic migration and political migration. In the second part of the course: the concepts of integration and citizenship in comparative terms between the first generation of immigrants and the children of migrations. The last part of the course will be devoted to the theme: Islam in Europe and the relationship with the public sphere.

None

Lectures and discussions with students. The lessons will be in the classroom or in telematic mode on the basis of the University provisions relating to the situation from COVID-19.

Political Science students
The examination will be oral. The acquisition of knowledge of the conceptual and analytical categories of the sociology of migration presented during the course will be assessed, as well as the student's ability to use these tools independently, including for a contemporary analysis of Italian society.

Social Work students
The examination will be in written form. The written test consists of three questions. The first two questions will concern the programme developed in the classroom. The third question will be an exercise concerning the application in the social service of one of aspects related to the migratory phenomenon dealt with during the course, in terms of problems that can be identified and solutions to be promoted.

In the first part of the course, theories (macro, meso and micro) concerning the explanation of migration processes will be discussed in order to develop different lines of analysis to understand the phenomenon. The main dimensions of the international and national governance of immigration policies will also be addressed, with a focus on the difference between economic migration and political migration. Attention will be paid to the various categories underlying the figure of the “migrant”: “regular migrant”, “illegal immigrant”, “non-EU citizen”, “EU citizen”, “worker”, “reunited family member”, “asylum seeker” and “foreign minor”. The aim will be to highlight how these categories do not depend on “natural” attributes of the migrant, that they are not rigid or unchangeable, but rather affected by the imprinting of the regulatory system in the country of arrival. In the second part of the course, the concepts of integration and citizenship will be dealt with starting from different theoretical paradigms. The topics will be discussed by comparing the first generation of immigrants and the children of migrations. The focus will be on the concept of “methodological nationalism” and its epistemic consequences on the study of migration. In particular, the aim will be to highlight the role of migration in the processes of transformation of contemporary societies. The last part of the course will be dedicated to a specific theme: Islam in Europe and the relationship with the public sphere. In detail, it will look at the processes of deterritorialization and new contextualization of Islam of the migrations and how these processes influence the forms of religious expression of the various Muslim communities and the ways in which they relate to the institution of liberal state citizenship.

Ambrosini, M. (2020), Sociologia delle migrazioni, Il Mulino, Bologna (third edition).
Acocella, I. (2018), Islam in Europa; tra processi di deterritorializzazione e nuove forme di contestualizzazione, in Ivana Acocella e Renata Pepicelli (a cura di) Transnazionalismo, cittadinanza, e pensiero islamico. Forme di attivismo dei giovani musulmani in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, pp. 23-45.

Attending students will replace the texts with the teaching materials that will be inserted on the moodle platform.