ES/SO/PO 363 - Equitable Living: The Human Right to Migration

The main objective of this course is to understand, from a human rights perspective, the main challenges to guarantee the right to migrate and the right to asylum within growing anti-immigrants social and political contexts.  From a critical perspective we will focus on the case of United Kingdom to learn the functioning of migration corridors and mobility dynamics between the Global North and the Global South. We will learn about the dynamics of mobility, integration and criminalization in a country that has traditionally been a destination for migrants and refugees. The case of the United Kingdom will allow us to generate critical questions about the right to migrate, applicable to different contexts and countries. 

We will approach the diversity of the migration phenomenon from a historical and intersectional perspective. On the one hand, we will identify the differences between mobility strategies and demographic groups, as well as the differences and tensions between economic migration, forced migration and refugee status. We will emphasize understanding migration dynamics from a gender perspective, exploring the functioning of global care chains sustained by the labor of women from the Global South in the economies of the Global North. 

We will reflect on the legal tensions of migration policies and international protection policies to guarantee the human right to asylum, especially in the last decade. Finally, we will explore the complex dynamics of integration and multiculturalism in the UK. We will take advantage of the fact that the class will be held in London, a laboratory of diversity, multiculturalism and the dynamism of the migration phenomenon. 

Through project-based learning, students will be able to apply global frameworks such as the SDGs and different instruments of International Human Rights Law and International Refugee Law to local challenges around migration and asylum through an interdisciplinary approach. Students will be asked to identify the most pressing challenges around migrant communities and human rights in the United Kingdom and apply methods based on participant observation and ethnography. In so doing, students will gain a deeper understanding of how justice is enacted within the context of migration and who that justice is meant to serve. 

Working in small teams, they will develop an innovative project proposal that can offer solutions to an identified challenge, taking into account the environmental, economic, historical and social characteristics of London. Substantive field visits and connections with local stakeholders, such as grassroots initiatives, start-ups or public institutions, will allow students to gather valuable data and information as they develop their projects; and project-based learning will culminate in delivering a multimedia presentation to the group. Upon successful completion of this course, students will earn a micro- credential in Equitable Living and project development that will demonstrate their literacy around the topic and their ability to find innovative solutions to complex problems.