240095 VO+UE VM3 / VM1 - Migration and Identity: Discourses of Belonging and Othering (2020W)

The course focuses on identity as a marker of communal boundaries of social inclusion and exclusion. Hence, social construction of identities will be considered in relation to the shifting boundaries of belonging to the collective, be it a nation-state, an ethnic group or a social change organization. We will examine national identity and nationalism in relation to globalization and international migration; ethnic identities in relation to minority communities, inter-ethnic conflicts and integration debates; gender and sexuality as cross-cutting axes of identity; new possibilities for social, cultural and political identities and identifications emerging from the Internet and social networks.
The purpose of this course is to provide participants with an overview of processes of social construction of identities, collective production of meaning, othering, and identity-based politics, and will introduce them diverse theories and analytical tools applied in the study of identity and belonging, from symbolic interactionism to intersectionality analysis.