Spatial approach of Population mobility
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Undergraduate Programme
The flight of young Greek women and men abroad, the brain drain, the refugees of 1922 and today, the environmental crisis and the forced migration (eg. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, Daniel &Elias phenomena and floods in Thessaly in 2023, etc.), the constant economic migration worldwide, the aging of the population & the de-population of remote rural and mountainous areas are some of the extremely burning issues that will be discussed in this course. The aim is to familiarize students with the analysis of the complex causes of movements and migrations, as well as to study the changes in the characteristics of migration and migrants over time and in relation to the global directionality of migration. The course approaches basic concepts of Population Geography (sources, methods and techniques of population analysis, geographical distribution of population, etc.), and develops the basic theories on migration and population mobility. It attempts to dig into the migratory phenomenon and to familiarize students with the concepts, the theories and the tools required for the study of current population movements. The course takes the form of an experimental laboratory on mobility/migration and their spatial effects and interactions. A collective student project, which will be worked throughout the semester, will enable the collection of materials in relation to population movements and related phenomena in space and society (refugee camps, touristification of ethnic neighborhoods, xenophobia, racism and discrimination, school/ethnic and other segregation, spatial inequalities based on ethnicity/nationality, depopulation, etc.).The generated corpus is to be presented in an interactive exhibition at the Department of Planning & Regional Development, at the end of the semester.
Despite huge improvement in data and research on migration, most scientific knowledge about migration is ignored in public discourse. Migration policies are all too often ineffective or backfire, because they are not based on a scientific understanding of the nature, causes and consequences of migration. ‘Talking truth to power’ will not solve this problem, because politicians, international organizations, and mass media routinely ignore evidence that challenges dominant narratives about migration (e.g. the ‘Mass Migration Narrative’, the ‘Migration Threat Narrative’, etc.) or distorts the truth in relation to it (de Haas, 2024). These powerful narratives are one-sided, misrepresent the true nature and the realities of migration, and, thus, prevent us from understanding the migration phenomenon as an intrinsic part of both global development and social change, rather than the stereotypical a priori approach as a “problem to be solved.” For this purpose, among the objectives of the course lays also to enhance knowledge about migration phenomena, which will allow us to critically scrutinize claims made by politicians, pundits, and interest groups, so to see through the various forms of misinformation and propaganda, which – unfortunately – abound on this subject.