SOC 125: Sociology of Immigration
Instructor: Yao-Tai Li ([email protected]) Time: Tue/Thu 10:00-11:20 am Office Hour: Tue/Thu 12:00-1:00 pm (SSB #451)
Course Description With advances in transportation and technology, it is much easier for people to move around the world. Immigration has thus become a familiar phenomenon close to our everyday lives. At the same time, however, it also generates issues and problems such as remittance, forced labor, social/economic impact on the receiving countries, as well as assimilations. Why do people migrate across international borders? Can states control migration for those who are “wanted” while excluding “unwanted” migrants? How do we understand the politics of immigration? These issues are complicated and certainly involve various agents and institutions.
Our focus for this course is not just limited to macro-level forces such as immigration policy and its effects. We will also touch upon micro-level issues including assimilation and incorporation. Such issues involve broad questions of membership, belonging, and citizenship. From the incorporation perspective, we know immigration is not just an important issue to migrants themselves. It is also close to each of us who now live in the “global village.”
The purpose of this course is to enable students to understand various topics involved in the migration processes. We will start with examining major immigration theories and then explore why people migrate, what considerations drive receiving country policies, how immigration policies affect migrants, and what are the economic and social assimilation consequences of immigration. In addition, we will also touch upon theoretical discussions and debates surrounding the concepts of race, ethnicity, gender, and citizenship during the immigration processes. Those discussions will be grounded in the history of migration in the United States and other societies.
Course Goals By the end of this course, you will have acquired the following skills:
• A solid understanding of some key immigration issues, theories, and debates • A capacity for discerning the intersections of immigration and other categories such as race, ethnicity, and gender in diverse contexts • An understanding of how immigration generates, reproduces, and sometimes mitigates or exacerbates injustice among groups of people • An ability to articulate these concepts and to critically evaluate their implications from various angles, drawing on contrasting ideas and perspectives, • An ability to use different types of empirical data to substantiate your own argument
Course Requirement • Be ready to start class on time • Read the course materials, prepare questions for class • Treat everyone with respect
1 • Turn off cell phones and other electronic devices • Check your email account daily
Course Materials The course readings are available online and will be posted on my blog: https://yaotaili.wordpress.com/teaching/
Office Hours My office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays at Social Science Building #451, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm. Other time scheduled by appointment via email: [email protected].
Evaluation I believe the most effective way of learning is through the process of critically analyzing an issue that you genuinely care about. In this course I do not expect you to memorize theories and their arguments. Instead, I will train your abilities to appropriately apply these theories and relevant data to your own arguments.
Your course grade is based on: class participation, a reflection paper, an outline of your final paper, and the final essay.
1. Class participation (10%): We will have open and active discussions in class. This means that you will be expected to contribute your thoughts, listen carefully to others, and be prepared to respond to questions and raise questions on a regular basis. I might have in-class assignments occasionally (e.g., ask you to write 1-2 paragraphs of reflection). The objective is to ensure that all students have the opportunity to engage with the readings and topics regularly and actively.
2. Reflection paper (40%): For this assignment, you need to choose one of the assigned readings and critically analyze it. Pick a theory/reading we have been talking about in the first half of the class and analyze: its main argument, what the implications of the author’s research findings are, what its methodology is, how the author substantiates his/her arguments, and whether you agree with the argument or not and why (or why not). Your paper may be turned in anytime in Week Five, but no later than the last class of Week 5.
3. Outline of final essay (10%): During the course you will have to prepare a topic that you are most interested in and care about. You can analyze an issue which has or has not been talked about in class. The outline should be no longer than 1 page. The outline should address your research question for the final essay, your main argument, the theories you will have a conversation with, and the data you are going to analyze. It will be due at the end of week 7.
4. Final essay (40%): As mentioned, an important goal of the course is to help you sharpen your skills for developing well-reasoned and well-written arguments that draw on sociological perspectives of immigration. Based on your outline, the final essay is expected to show what you have learned throughout the course and your ability to critically analyze a topic or phenomenon that you care about. For this essay I will particularly focus on your main argument and how well you connect it to the theories and use the data to substantiate it. The essay should be double-spaced and no more than 5 pages.
2 Course Schedule This schedule is subject to revision as we proceed. Any changes will be announced in class.
Week 1 Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks: Why is Immigration Important? Portes, Alejandro. 1997. “Immigration Theory for A New Century: Some Problems and Opportunities.” International Migration Review 31(4): 799-825. Massey, Douglas et al. 1998. “Contemporary Theories of International Migration.” In Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium (chapter 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Glick Schiller, Nina, Linda Basch and Christina Szanton Blanc. 1995. “From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration.” Anthropological Quarterly 68(1): 48-63. Borjas, George J. 1999. “Reframing the Immigration Debate.” In Heaven’s Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy (pp. 3-18). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Week 2 Why Do People Migrate? Massey, Douglas S. 1999. “Why Does Immigration Occur? A Theoretical Synthesis.” In The Handbook of International Migration: The American Experience (chapter 2). New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Faist, Thomas. 2000. “A Review of Dominant Theories of International Migration.” In: The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social Spaces (chapter 2) New York: Oxford University Press. Akee, Randall. 2010. “Who’s Leaving? Deciphering Immigrant Self-selection from a Developing Country.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 58(2): 323- 344. Castles, Stephen. 2003. “Towards a Sociology of Forced Migration and Social Transformation.” Sociology 37(1): 13-34.
Week 3 The Consequences of Immigration Kerr, Sari P. and William R. Kerr. 2011. “Economic Impacts of Immigration: A Survey.” Harvard Business School Working Paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/09-013_15702a45-fbc3-44d7- be52-477123ee58d0.pdf Joppke, Christian. 1998. “Immigration Challenges the Nation State.” In Challenge to the Nation-State: Immigration in Western Europe and the United States (chapter 1) Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cantore, Nicola and Massimiliano Cali. 2015. “The Impact of Temporary Migration on Source Countries.” International Migration Review 49: 697-726. Rosenzweig, Mark R. 2005. “Consequences of Migration for Developing Countries.” Report for United Nations Expert Group Meeting: http://www.un.org/esa/population/meetings/ittmigdev2005/P08_Rosenzweig.pdf
Week 4 “Wanted” vs. “Unwanted”: Immigration Law/Policy and Its Effects Freeman, Gary. 1995. “Modes of Immigration Policies in Liberal Democratic States.” International Migration Review 29(4): 881-902. Tichenor, Daniel J. 2002. “The Politics of Immigration Control: Understanding the
3 Rise and Fall of Policy Regimes.” In Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America (chapter 2). Princeton: Princeton University Press. Ruhs, Martin. 2013. The Price of Rights: Regulating International Labor Migration (chapter 7). Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Cornelius, Wayne A. 2005. “Controlling ‘Unwanted’ Immigration: Lessons from the United States, 1993-2004.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31(4): 775- 794.
Week 5 Citizenship: From Migrants/Aliens to Citizens Bloemraad, Irene. 2006. “The Meaning of Citizenship.” In Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada (chapter 4). Berkeley: University of California Press. Brubaker, Rogers. 1990. “Immigration, Citizenship, and the Nation-State in France and Germany: A Comparative Historical Analysis.” International Sociology 5: 379-407. Nawyn, Stephanie J. 2011. “‘I Have So Many Successful Stories’: Framing Social Citizenship for Refugees.” Citizenship Studies 15(6-7): 679-693. James, Paul. 2014. “Faces of Globalization and the Borders of States: From Asylum Seekers to Citizens.” Citizenship Studies 18(2): 208-223.
* Reference: Sadiq, Kamal. 2010. Paper Citizens: How Illegal Immigrants Acquire Citizenship in Developing Countries. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Reflection paper due: Thursday, April 28th, in class
Week 6 Assimilation and Incorporation Alba, Richard and Victor Nee. 1997. “Rethinking Assimilation Theory for a New Era of Immigration.” International Migration Review 31(4): 826-874. Portes, Alejandro., Fernández-Kelly, Patricia and William Haller. 2009. “The Adaptation of Immigrant Second Generation in America: A Theoretical Overview and Recent Evidence.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 35(7): 1077-1104. Zhou, Min. 1997. “Segmented Assimilation: Issues, Controversies, and Recent Research on the New Second Generation.” International Migration Review 31(4): 975-1008. Gans, Herbert J. 1999. “Toward a Reconciliation of ‘Assimilation’ and ‘Pluralism’: The Interplay of Acculturation and Ethnic Retention.” In The Handbook of International Migration (chapter 8). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Week 7 Identity within Migration Colic-Peisker, Val. 2008. Migration, Class, and Transnational Identities: Croatians in Australia and America, chapter 3. Dauvergne, Catherine and Sarah Marsden. 2014. “The Ideology of Temporary Labour Migration in the Post-global Era.” Citizenship Studies 18(2): 224-242. Waters, Mary C. 1994. “Ethnic and Racial Identities of Second-Generation Black Immigrants in New York City.” International Migration Review 28(4): 795-820. Simonsen, Kristina Bakkær. 2016. “How the Host Nation’s Boundary Drawing Affects Immigrants’ Belonging.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42(7): 1153-1176.
• Final essay outline due: Thursday, May 12th, in class
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Week 8 The Intersection between Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Silverstein, Paul A. 2005. “Immigrant Racialization and the New Savage Slot: Race, Migration, and Immigration in the New Europe.” Annual Review of Anthropology 34: 363-384. Jiménez, Tomás R. 2008. “Mexican-Immigrant Replenishment and the Continuing Significance of Ethnicity and Race.” American Journal of Sociology 113(6): 1527- 1567. Munck, Ronaldo. 2005. “Race, Migration and Citizenship.” In Globalization and Social Exclusion: A Transformationalist Perspective (chapter 6). Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press. Espiritu, Yen Le. 1992. “Coming Together: The Asian American Movement.” In Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities (chapter 2). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Week 9 Gender Matters: Gendered Body within Migration Oishi, Nana. 2005. “The Road from Home: Women’s Autonomy, Migration, and the Trapping Mechanism.” In Women in Motion: Globalization, State Policies, and Labor Migration in Asia (chapter 5). Stanford: Stanford University Press. Ngai, Mae. 2003. “From Colonial Subject to Undesirable Alien: Filipino Migration in the Invisible Empire.” In Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (chapter 3). Princeton: Princeton University Press. Parreñas, Rhacel S. 2008. “The U.S. War on Trafficking and the Moral Disciplining of Migrant Women.” In The Force of Domesticity: Filipina Migrants and Globalization (chapter 6). New York: New York University Press. Pei-Chia Lan. 2006. “Crossing Borders and Gender Divides.” In Global Cinderellas: Migrant Domestics and Newly Rich Employers in Taiwan (chapter 4). Durham: Duke University Press.
Week 10 Comparing Dynamics and Current Immigration Issues across Countries Joppke, Christian. 2001.“The Legal-Domestic Sources of Immigrant Rights: The United States, Germany, and the European Union.” Comparative Political Studies, 34(4): 339-399. Gonzales, Roberto. 2011. “Learning to Be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood.” American Sociological Review 76: 602-619. Kulcsár, László J. 2013. “The Day After Tomorrow: Migration and Climate Change.” In: International Handbook of Migration Studies (chapter 2). New York: Routledge. Ragazzi, Francesco. 2016. “Suspect Community or Suspect Category? The Impact of Counter-terrorism as ‘policed multiculturalism.’” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42(5): 724-741.
• Final essay due: Tuesday, June 7th, in class
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