Climate Change, Migration and Social Control Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Overview

Key Facts of the Climate Change, Migration and Social Control course from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Theoretically, we engage with the literature on slow violence, such as humans' and non-humans (forced) mobility due to ecological changes and the dynamics of power and knowledge related to multi-layered injustices in the Anthropocene.

Climate-induced migration is an urgent topic of research and policy triggering hot debates around border control, detention and deportation, labour market inclusion, and refugees’ recognition. Policymakers, civil society, and academics have reached some corners in assessing how people on the move are perceived, managed, or rejected by host societies.

This course focuses on migration control policies and practices, from access to the labor market to deportation measures in order to investigate who is more likely to be welcomed (or rejected) from Europe and why.  The course dives deep into scholarly discussions on the refugees’ recognition (who’s a climate refugee?), (differentiated) integration of racialized groups, and methods of migration control (e.g., smart borders). Special attention is paid to the processes of organizing at different international, national, and local levels that respond to the needs of more inclusive societies in an era of mass mobility and climate change.