Sociology 285B: Ethnographies of Migration
Quarter: Fall 2017Instructor: Gail Kligman Gail Kligman
Migration has long been focus of ethnographic research. Students read variety of (mostly full-length) ethnographies as means to explore structural similarities and experiential differences migrants encounter in their diverse global journeys. Among issues addressed in context of both internal and international migration are interrelated effects of political and legal regimes on migration decisions, opportunities, and constraints; how race/ethnicity, class, gender, and generation shape migration practices and may be transformed in process; access to and role of networks in migration; tensions and inequities within families, and in sending and origin communities; and different migration strategies (e.g., circular and transnational) and their impact on families. Assessment of strengths and weakness of ethnographic methods in studying migration.
