Social Mobility

Timetable

Lectures on Thursdays, 3 PM, location: Sociology Faculty, Szamarzewskiego st. 91 C, Poznań (room will be delivered).

Module aim (aims)

DELIVERY OF STUDENTS OF BASIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SOCIAL AND SPATIAL MOBILITY, ITS CAUSES AND SELECTED POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Participants are required to have a basic knowledge of globalisation and its social processes at the micro, meso, and macro scales, particularly in Europe.

The lecture is planned for 30 hours; the assessment method is based on individual presentations (15 slides, more, details of which are presented during the lectures). Presentations are to be performed individually by students in the class during the last lecture of the term.

Syllabus

1. Introduction – why the contemporary migration matters
2. Modern migration patterns in the 20th century and before - from labour migrants to ’the creative class’.
3. Migration and globalization
4. Migration, development and security matters
5. Migration as a social process – history, and the future, and migrants in society – from irregular migration to assimilation processes
6. Labour migration, brain loss and brain drain.
7. Mobility in the academic world - pros and cons of being on the move.
8. Social capital, ethnic enclaves and ethnic minorities’ associations.
9. The future of migration – questions, doubts and policy implications.
10. Conclusions - the impact of political instability and military conflicts (Gaza Strip, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela) for migratory patterns. 

Reading list

1. Becker G.S., 1993. Human Capital. A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Chicago and London.
2. Castles Stephen, Miller Mark, 2009. The Age of Migration. International Population Movements in the Modern World, ed. Pelgrave MacMillan.
3. Coleman James S.,1988. Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital, in: The American Journal of Sociology, vol. 94, Supplement: Organizations and Institutions: Sociological and Economic Approaches to the Analysis of Social Structure (1988).
4. Goldin I., Cameron G., Balarajan M., 2011. Exceptional People. How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future, Princeton and Oxford
5. Granovetter M., 1983. The Strength of Weak Ties. A Network Theory Revisited, in: Sociological Theory, Vol. 1.
6. Koser Khalid, 2007. International migration: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press, New York.
7. Isański J., Mleczko A., Seredyńska-Abou Eid R., 2013. Polish Contemporary Migration: From Co-migrants to Project ME, in: International Migration, Vol. 52, No. 1.
8. Levitt P., Lamba-Nieves D., 2010. „It’s Not Just About the Economy, Stupid” – Social Remittances Revisited [online], <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/its-not-just-about- economy-stupid-social-remittances-revisited>
9. Massey Douglas S., Arango Joaquin, Hugo Graeme, Kouaouci Ali, Pellegrino Adela, Taylor Edward J., (2009). Worlds in motion. Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium, International Studies in Demography. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
10. Okólski M., 2006. Costs and benefits of migration for Central European countries, „CMR Working Papers”, nr 7 (65).
11. Portes Alejandro, DeWind Josh, 2008. Rethinking migration. ed. Berghahn Books.
12. Portes A., Rumbaut R.G., 2006. Immigrant America. A Portrait. Third Edition. Revised, Expanded and Updated, Berkeley, Los Angeles–London.
13. Roos Ch., 2013. The EU and Immigration Policies. Cracks in the Walls of Fortress Europe?, Hampshire, Basingstoke.