Learning objectives
The educational objectives concern theoretical and methodological dimensions.
The aim is the students' ability to explore the mobility as social, economic and cultural phenomena by an intersectional perspective, that is, being able to read migrations both as questions of social class and as questions related to colonialism and racialization.
About the methodological dimensions, the course aims to provide the first rudiments for a multidimensional analysis (micro and macro analysis) of social phenomena, using at the same time quantitative databases, ethnographic diaries, legal documents.
In this sense, the course also invite to participate students as 'people in mobility' (individual, family, generational) with the aim of helping them in re-elaborating the experience and the migratory background.
Prerequisites
No
Course unit content
The Sociological Legal Clinic aims to introduce the students to the multidisciplinary analysis of migratory processes as emblematic example of the evolution of the role of the Nation-State in the management of social conflicts and the global differences. The objects of debate are the border, the frontier, the cross-border solidarity, the detention condition of foreigners, the processes of inclusion and exclusion of asylum seekers. These questions will be analyzed maintaining attention to more general and transversal social theory contents inherent to symbolic, cultural, structural and institutional violence in the contemporary era and the way in which discrimination is structurally reiterated today.
The course aims to involve the students in open research fields, adopting a comprehensive strategy of analysis of research cases and providing students with elements of research methodology that can develop their own critical sense.
The course will be divided into 4 modules:
Module I: The first module of the Sociological-Legal Clinic will focus on the concept of structural violence, perspective and analytical approach that the rest of the course wants to have. The course aims to shed light on the role of national and international institutions in shaping contemporary mobility, within conflictual interactions with solidarity movements and self-organization of migrants themselves.
Module II: The second module of the Sociological-Legal Clinic will focus on the border space from a theoretical and methodological point of view. We will explore the multiple dimensions of borders in the contemporary world, starting from their historical evolution up to the current challenges of global mobility.
Module III: The third module of the clinic will delve into the connections between migratory experience, recognition of rights and sexual identity. In fact, there are an increasing number of people belonging to the LGBTQ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) who arrive in Italy and apply for international protection.
Module IV: The fourth module will explore the issue of detention of migrants, with specific reference to the case of the crime of aiding and abetting irregular migration.
Full programme
Module I: The first module of the Sociological-Legal Clinic will focus on the concept of structural violence as an analytical approach. More specifically, in order to go beyond analyses that frame people in forced mobility either as ‘deviants’ or as ‘victims’ of violence (interpreted and narrated as issues, misfortunes, individual conquests), the course aims to shed light on the role of national and international institutions in shaping contemporary mobility processes, institutions that have conflictual interactions with solidarity movements and forms of self-organization of migrants themselves.
The aim of the first module is then to introduce students to the analysis of the data that will be analyzed later, that is, to a way of producing data of a qualitative, ethnographic, multi-sited and participatory nature (involving migrants themselves in the research).
Module II: The second module of the Sociological-Legal Clinic will deal with the concept of 'border'. The series of lectures explores the multiple dimensions of borders in the contemporary world, starting from their historical evolution up to the current challenges of global mobility. Through an analysis of the European Union border management system, the hotspot approach, and an in-depth analysis of migrant circulation and transit spaces, the course aims to understand how borders shape society. The digital and infrastructural aspects of the border apparatus will also be examined, offering a comprehensive overview of the socio-political dynamics at play. The aim is to answer the crucial question: what logic guides the current regulatory and operational framework of borders and how does this logic interact with the complex realities of human mobility in the 21st century?
Module III: The third module of the clinic will explore the connections between the migratory experience, the recognition of rights and sexual identity. In fact, there are an increasing number of people belonging to the LGBTQ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) who arrive in Italy and apply for international protection. Many of them come from countries where homosexuality or transgenderism are deeply criminalized both legally (in many countries the death penalty or imprisonment still exists) and socially. The process of recognition of rights, once they arrive in Italy, is particularly complex and these people often find themselves experiencing double discrimination as migrants and as LGBTQ people. During the module we will analyze the phenomenon: thanks to the experiences developed by third party operators and jurists, we will explore some concrete cases with particular reference to reception practices and the presentation of the application for protection.
Module IV: The fourth module will explore the issue of detention of migrants.
The interpretation of legislation and case law represent a system aimed at criminalizing migration in which there is relatively little space for the right to defense and the effectiveness of the guarantees that should be the cornerstone of a fair trial. All this is evident in the trials in which migrants are held accountable for the crime provided for and punished by art. 12 TUI, where linguistic mediation is often absent, access to State-funded legal aid is complex, it is almost impossible to guarantee technical advice (absence of doctors specialized in injuries resulting from torture), access to the application for international protection is complex, especially in places of detention. Instead, the measure of detention in prison is widely applied despite the incompatibility with the prison regime of the suspect, due to his probable subjection to torture, in light of the ECHR parameters (the measure of detention in prison as a hypothesis of inhuman and degrading treatment).
Bibliography
The study materials will be uploaded after each lesson and will essentially be scientific essays on the topics covered, for a total of approximately 12 essays (3 essays per module).
Teaching methods
The Course is characterized by an innovative teaching approach:
part of the lessons will be traditional, aimed at transmitting some theoretical concepts and some basic methodological knowledge;
part of lessons will be linked to the presence of people on the move: the so-called 'open lessons' with the presence of volunteers, NGO activists and migrants;
part of the lessons will be held in 'field', laboratories located in spaces, where migratory phenomena take shape (methods and times of these laboratories will be agreed with the students). To carry out these laboratories, the Clinic has started a formal collaboration with numerous ONGs including:
Ciac onlus;
Mediterranea Human Saving;
ASGI (Associazione Studi Giuridici Immigrazione);
IrpiMedia;
MSF Medicine sans Frontières.
Assessment methods and criteria
The exam includes:
- The development of a research paper produced by the student
- The study of essays uploaded to Elly
Other information
The Clinical Sociology and Legal Course extends a special invitation to students who wish to ‘work’ (understand, elaborate, thinking) on their own migratory background (from the South to the North of Italy, from the South to the North of the world, from the East to the West of everywhere, ...).
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
