210072 SE BAK11: European Union and Europeanisation (2022S)

In the past decades we have seen an increasing Europeanization of the policy fields of migration and asylum. There have also been important changes in the social foundations of politics with the emergence of a new dividing line in European politics to which attitudes to immigration are central.
This course focuses on the political and policy process to explore these dynamics and effects of migration in the EU and its member states.
In an interactive format, this course will engage intensively with the political consequences of international migration from the perspectives of public policy, party politics, and public opinion.
In terms of policy, we will first discuss the major policy categories of migration, that divide international migration into forced and voluntary movement. We will then trace the process of European integration concerning asylum and migration and look at key policy trends at the EU and national levels. We will explore the main drivers of public attitudes to migration in Europe, and look at variations across Europe.
As for politics, we focus on the rising politicization of migration, and the changes in political cleavage structures underlying this rise, and shine light on the electoral growth of the anti-immigrant right, and its effects on policies and centre parties. We will also engage with the question what European polities and societies ought to do, engaging with normative, scholarly debates: what is the morally right, just thing to do about issues of migration?

Learning objectives
By the end of this course, students are expected to:
• Demonstrate independent and critical understanding of the political effects of immigration in the EU and its member states
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the most important aspects of political responses to and perception about international migration in Europe
• Demonstrate appropriate cognitive, communicative and transferable skills, including understanding complex concepts and theories, exercising critical judgement, problem-solving skills; making effective oral and written presentations, utilizing specialist primary and secondary sources, and deepening the capacity for independent learning
• Write essays/opinion pieces with a coherent argument that are referenced in accordance with established academic practice