Gendering migration & diasporas
- Course Code:
- 15PGNH002
- Unit value:
- 0.5
- Taught in:
- Term 2
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the various ways migration as well as diaspora formations and experiences are gendered. It will engage with a range of migratory and diasporic forms (labour migration, forced migration & transnational migration) while challenging some of the analytical categories underlying these distinctions. The course will address both the social, economic and political dimensions of migration and diasporas as well as issues related to identity construction, cultural productions and imaginations.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
On successful completion of this course, a student will:
- Have a good understanding of the gendered aspects of various forms of migration and diasporic experiences;
- Be familiar with a range of methodological and theoretical approaches to the study of migration and diaspora including migration studies, refugee studies, anthropology, and cultural studies within the overall context of gender studies;
- Be familiar with a number of empirical examples and case studies pertaining to the question of how migration and diaspora experiences are gendered;
- Have been introduced to the interconnections between economic and political conditions on the one hand and gender ideologies and relations on the other;
- Have obtained the intellectual tools to analyse different forms of migration and diaspora experience from a gendered perspective;
- Be able to critically evaluate a variety of books, journals and other sources of information relevant to the topics studied on the course;
- Have produced weekly written work (reaction papers) as well as detailed written work on one approved topic relevant to the course.
Workload
Two hours per week (one hour lecture, one hour tutorial)Scope and syllabus
Core Topics:
- Labour and the Economics of Migration
- Forced Migration and Displacement
- Exile & Asylum
- Transnational Migration
- Transnational Social Spaces & Activities
- Diasporic Spaces
- Political mobilization in the Diaspora
- Cultural Productions I: Writing
- Cultural Productions II: Film and the media
- Body politics in the Diaspora
Method of assessment
One 3500-4000 word essays (50% ), five best reaction papers; 600-800 words each (50%).Suggested reading
- Aitchison, C., P. Hopkins, and M. Kwan, eds. Geographies of Muslim Identities: Diaspora, Gender and Belonging. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.
- Al-Ali, Nadje. New Approaches to Migration: Transnational Communities and the Transformation of Home. Edited volume with Khalid Koser. London, New York: Routledge, 2002.
- Al-Ali, Nadje.‘Gender, Diasporas and Post-cold War Conflict’, in Hazel Smith (ed.) Diasporas and Post-Cold War Conflict, Washington: United States Institute for Peace & United Nations University, 2007.
- Al-Ali, Nadje. ‘Gender Relations and Transnational Ties among Bosnian Refugees’, in Deborah Bryceson (ed.) Forging New Frontiers in Europe: Transnational Families and their Global Networks. Oxford & New York: Berg Publishers, 2003.
- Al-Ali, Nadje. ‘Gender relations, transnational ties and rituals amongst Bosnian refugees’, in global networks: a journal of transnational affairs 2 (3) July 2002: 249-262.
- Al-Sharmani, Mulki "Living Transnationally: Somali Diasporic Women in Cairo " International Migration 44, no. 1 (2006): 55-77.
- Basran, G. S., and B. Singh Bolaria. The Sikhs in Canada : Migration, Race, Class, and Gender. New Delhi ; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Brah, Avtar. Cartographies of diaspora: contesting identities. London & New York: Routledge, 1996.
- Camino, Linda A. Ruth M. Krulfeld (Eds.) (1994) Reconstructing lives, recapturing meaning : refugee identity, gender and culture change. Basel: Gordon & Breach.
- Esim, Simel and Smith, Monica "Gender and Migration in Arab States: The Case of Domestic Workers " International Labour Office (2004 ): 1 108
- Fábos, Anita H. "Brothers" Or Others? Muslim Arab Sudanese in Egypt. Oxford and New York: Berghahn Books, 2007.
- Ganga, Deianira. "Breaking with Tradition through Cultural Continuity: Gender and Generation in a Migratory Setting." Migration Letters 4, no. 1 (2007): 41-52.
- Giles, Wenona, Helene Moussa and Penny Van Esterik (Eds.) (1996) Development & Diaspora: Gender and the Refugee Experience. Toronto: Artemis Enterprises.
- Indra, Doreen (Ed.)(1999) Engendering forced migration: Theory and practice. Oxford: Berghahn Books.
- Ho, Christine G. T. "Caribbean Transnationalism as a Gendered Process." Latin American perspectives 26, no. 5 (1999): 34-54.
- Khater, Akram Fouad. Emigration, Gender, and the Middle Class in Lebanon, 1870-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
- Kofman, Eleonore. Gender and International Migration in Europe : Employment, Welfare, and Politics. New York: Routledge, 2000.
- McSpadden, L.ucia Ann. "Negotiating Masculinity in the Reconstruction of Social Place: Eritrean and Ethiopian Refugees in the United States and Sweden." In Engendering Forced Migration: Theory and Practice, edited by D. Indra, 242-60. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1999.
- Ong, Aihwa. Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 1999.
- Pessar, Patricia R., and Sarah J. Mahler. "Transnational Migration: Bringing Gender In." International Migration Review 37, no. 3 (2003): 812-46.
- Spijkerboer, Thomas (2000) Gender and refugee status. Aldershot : Dartmouth Publishing and Ashgate Publishing.
