RSOS4958 – International Migration: Sovereigns, Borders, Control

Course content

We live in an interconnected world where the flow of capital and goods has been systematically liberalised, air travel is affordable, and information can move instantly. People who want to cross international borders, on the other hand, can face numerous obstacles depending on a range of factors. As states invest heavily to try to control human mobility, migration control gets referred to as the last bastion of sovereignty. Yet, humans are also sovereigns and want control over their own lives and future. While the many myths and unfounded assumptions permeating cross-border migration contribute to polarised public perceptions, migration’s complexity and fluidity makes legal regulation and institutional management particularly challenging and fragmented.

Drawing from law, sociology of law, criminology, political science and migration studies more generally, this multidisciplinary course provides a wholesome understanding of the many debates and dilemmas surrounding international migration and its management today. The course will address a broad range of topics and themes, including the legal regulation and institutional management of migration; ordering through labels, terms and categories; sovereignty, control and externalisation; citizenship and statelessness; securitisation and criminalisation of migration; smuggling, trafficking and instrumentalization debates, as well as gendered, racial and other aspects of migration and its management.

We will cover a combination of both canonical and newer academic texts in this area and will draw additional insights from policy documents, reports, fiction literature and films.

Learning outcome

Knowledge, at the end of this course, you are expected to have an understanding of the key issues and debates surrounding international migration, including:

• what characterises international migration and its management today,
• what kinds of overt and discrete tools are utilised to control unwanted migration, and
• how migrants themselves respond to and navigate this complex landscape.

Skills, at the end of this course, you are expected to have enhanced your ability to:

• read and critically engage with a variety of texts on migration,
• follow and be able to participate in multidisciplinary discussions on migration, and
• form and coherently communicate own views in this area, with reference to existing debates, key concepts and relevant literature.

Competences, at the end of this course, you are expected to:

• have enhanced your ability to critically assess new developments in the area of international migration and its management, and
• more generally discern and appreciate the complexity and multifaceted nature of similar contemporary societal issues.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with RSOS2958 – International Migration: Sovereigns, Borders, Control.
• 10 credits overlap with KRIM2958 – Migration Control, Borders and Citizenship (continued).
• 10 credits overlap with KRIM4958 – Migration Control, Borders and Citizenship (continued).

Teaching

There will be eight lectures taught in English.

Examination

Students are graded on the basis of a 4 hour written exam.

The candidates will take the exam on a PC and the submission is digital in Inspera Read about School exams in Inspera.

Location during the exam and candidate number will be published in Studentweb about a week before the examination.

Examination support material

You may bring up to two copies of a general (non-legal) spelling dictionary, regardless of language. These should not have annotations/notes in them.?

No other examination support material is allowed.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English. You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Marking criteria:?This guide is used by examiners for grading this course.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• How to use AI as a student
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.