Sociology of Immigration ((3))

Catalog description

This course explores the historical sociology of immigration in the modern world-system. First, we look at various theories of immigration and the patterns of international migration prior to and after 1945, with a focus on the main regions of the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. We analyze the historical participation of migrants in segmented labor markets, their role in creating ethnic minorities and multicultural societies, and their interaction with receiving and sending political systems. (Castles, de Haas and Miller's book); Then we explore the social construction of the illegal alien and the racialized foreign other in the United States, from the mid-XIX Century up to the liberal immigration regime inaugurated in 1965 (Ngai's book), which set the stage for the current era of massive irregular migration in North America. Lastly, we analyze the dysfunctional U.S. immigration regime in the post-cold-war era, from the mid-1990s up to the present, including ever-more draconian and restrictive laws, the intense nativist backlash, the rise of the modern immigrant rights movement and the impact on immigrant communities, immigrant flows, and immigration politics and reform, by the rise of the homeland security state after 9/11 (Gonzales's book). Students will be encouraged to explore the history and current aspects of international migration in the U.S. and other regions of the world through their group and individual research projects, as described below.