Dr Eiko Thielemann

This course is available on the MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe, MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Columbia), MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Sciences Po), MSc in European and International Politics and Policy, MSc in European and International Politics and Policy (LSE and Bocconi), MSc in European and International Politics and Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in European and International Public Policy (LSE and Bocconi), MSc in European and International Public Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in International Migration and Public Policy, MSc in International Migration and Public Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Political Economy of Europe, MSc in Political Economy of Europe (LSE and Fudan) and MSc in Political Economy of Europe (LSE and Sciences Po). This course is not available as an outside option.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically very high. Priority is given to students from the European Institute, so students from outside this programme may not get a place.

This course offers a theoretically informed account of the challenges posed by international migration and resulting policy responses. The focus is on the comparative analysis of asylum and immigration policies in OECD countries, with a particular focus on EU countries, the US, Canada and Australia.  The course is structured in three parts. The first introduces a number of theoretical models that seek to explain the dynamics of international migration and migration control policies, addressing questions such as: Why do people migrate?  How effective are policies that aim to manage migration? The second, comparative part deals with national policy responses to the issue of asylum & refugees, 'irregular' migration & human trafficking and (legal) economic immigration. The final part focuses on the analysis of multilateral policy initiatives on migration management at the global, regional and bi-lateral level of governance.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the AT. 1 hour of lectures in the ST.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT.

All students are expected to submit one non-assessed essay, due in Autumn Term Week 6.

There is no single textbook but the following texts are useful introductions:

• H de Haas, How Migration Really Works, 2024;
• C Brettell, J Hollifield, Migration Theory: Talking Across the Disciplines, 2022;
• J Hollifield, et al., Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective, 2022;
• A Geddes, Governing Migration Beyond the State, 2021;
• H de Haas, S Castles & M J Miller, The Age of Migration, 2019;
• A  Betts and P Collier, Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System 2018;
• D S Fitzgerald, Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers, 2019;
• A Geddes, L Hadj-Abdou, L Brumat, Migration and Mobility in the European Union, 2020.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.

The summative assessment will take the form of an e-exam in the Spring Term. E-exams are assessments run under invigilated exam conditions on campus. Students will complete the assessment using software downloaded to their personal laptops.