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Instructors: Bruno Mesquita Soares de Araujo
Event type:
Follow-up seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
V-SEM
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 23
Registration group: Spezielle Soziologie - Seminare
Comments/contents:
!!!LAST OPPORTUNITY!!!
Human displacement is not a new phenomenon; it has been part of the development of societies over time. At some point in human history, social groups settled and displacement denoted a sign of instability and fragmentation. With the emergence of Modern States, national boundaries were defined and sovereignty legitimized authority over populations. Later, notions like culture and identity associated with this national status emerged, producing exclusionary spaces for those who do not fit into such established societies. In this sense, social concepts such as alienation (Marx), solidarity (Durkheim), and social action (Weber) became models to justify the association or dissociation of people in societies.
Currently, events following the decolonization process in the latter half of the twentieth century have increased tensions across borders, as well as the reasons for human displacement. Such events are likely to increase in the next few years, due to ongoing multi-ethnic conflicts, natural disasters, or wars. National borders, political and religious persecution, labor market, gender orientation, and natural disasters have exceeded the categories normally used to describe displaced persons, e.g. refugees, migrants, internally displaced, etc. Due to the legal aspects, new categories are necessary to be developed in an attempt to include new kinds of displaced persons, e.g. LGBTQIA+ and climate refugees, in international law.
Such tensions and problems have also reflected in the ways that social scientists explain the adaptation process between displaced and host places (e.g. integration, acculturation, marginalization, etc.). From a modern and state-centric perspective, the feeling of belonging is connected with the place; and displaced persons are expected to return one day to their home. However, what are we supposed to do, if this return is not possible? In this sense, post-modern theories argue that place and home are things we can create where we are. At the same, a postcolonial approach highlights that material or affective barriers still exist, and their removal is a paradigm that contemporary societies have to face in the next years.
Against this background, this seminar intends to analyze the question of displacement and displaced persons in relation to the place of destination and the native populations, using modern, post-modern, and postcolonial theories, as well as the contributions of other fields of knowledge such as economy, politics, international relations, anthropology, psychology, etc. Another focus is given to the German integration process, as well as to the detachment process. Students are expected to propose new arrangements in an increasingly polarized and global world. Bring your diasporic history and enjoy this seminar!
!!!LAST OPPORTUNITY!!!
Learning objectives:
- To provide a conceptual and theoretical overview of sociological and anthropological debates about displacement and displaced persons
- To provide a sociological analysis of displacement and displaced persons while also drawing upon political, historical, geographical, and psychological accounts.
- To explore how displacement affects human beings, social relationships, mental health, nation-states, and international relations
- To identify key connections between modern, post-modern, and postcolonial perspectives as well as their failures to address displacement and the displaced persons
Didactic concept:
This seminar is divided into three parts. In the first moment, we are going to be introduced to the social theories concerned with displacement. In the second part, displacement is analyzed as an experiential process with stages in which questions like integration & policies, cultural differences, (mental) health, and fictional representation of displacement are presented. In the third moment, students are invited to prepare a handout and to present one of the ten cases of displacement: nomadism, diasporas & refugees, asylum seekers, stateless, internally displacement, development- induced displacement, queer displacement, climate displaced persons, repatriation and vulnerable persons. In total, the students must prepare a summarization, a self-diasporic report, a question-answer, a presentation, and a final essay.
Literature:
Classical texts, theoretical and empirical articles, and documentaries. Find below the basic literature. Others will be provided on the syllabus.
Barth, F. (1998). Ethnic groups and boundaries: The social organization of culture difference. Waveland Press.
Behrman, S., & Kent, A. (Eds.). (2018). Climate refugees: beyond the legal impasse?. Routledge.
Fortier, A. M. (2002). Queer diaspora. Handbook of lesbian and gay studies, 183-197.
Jurisic, I. (2014). Feeling integrated, yet not accepted.
Hall, S., & King, A. (2005). Old and new identities. Beyond borders: In thinking critically about global issues, 167-173.
Mannur, A., & Braziel, E. (2003). Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Ray, S. (2015). Sociology of displacement: Policies and practice.
Sahoo, A. K., & Maharaj, B. (2006). Sociology of the Diaspora: A Reader.
Additional examination information:
Course work:
- Short presentation
- Class activities
- Summarization
Exam:
- Final essay (min. 10 pages).
Deadline: 01/09/2021
Grades:
5% Summarization
5% Self-diasporic report
10% Question-answer
10% Presentation
70% Final essay
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