| Unit name | The Ethics of Migration and Citizenship |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHIL30118 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Chris Bertram |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
none |
| School/department | Department of Philosophy |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Much political philosophy proceeds on the assumption that states exercise sovereignty over the set of citizens who live on their territory. If democracy is the right form of government, the principle of democratic legitimacy presumes that those over whom power is exercised have a right to a say in government. But in real life, the presence of people who are non-members on the territory, the fact that many citizens live elsewhere and the right that states claim to control their borders makes this picture problematic. Moreover, the distribution of many important goods and freedoms to people is conditioned by their citizenship status: if you have the citizenship of a wealthy liberal democracy, your prospects in life are vastly better than if you are born the citizen of a poor country in sub-Saharan Africa. This unit is about how the normative questions of how we allocate and ought to allocate citizenship, of what states owe to non members (both within and outside the territory). It asks how membership is justified and who ought to be a member and on what grounds, how living with people from different cultures and ethnicities might affect how liberal democracies should be organized, what we owe to people who are failed or persecuted by their country of origin (refugees and asylum seekers) and whether the right that states claim to control their borders and exclude outsiders is justified or not. The unit will be taught by a combination of lectures and seminars.
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Explain the main philosophical arguments for and against the right of states to manage migration and their connection to positions in debates on global justice.
2. Explain the main philosophical disagreements around the concepts of citizenship, toleration and multiculturalism.
3. Explain the key arguments around the rights of refugees, their human rights and state obligations to them.
4. conduct a small-scale independent research project
5. present sophisticated arguments in structured writing
Lectures and seminars.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
One page essay plan for 3,000-word essay (0%, Not Required for credit) [ILOs 1-5]
Tasks which do not count towards your unit mark but are required for credit (zero-weighted):
None
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
1000-word "critical reply" - students would write a very focused brief reply to one argument in the literature (10%) [ILOs 1-5] 3000-word essay (90%) [ILOs 1-3, 5]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. PHIL30118).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
