LFU:online

Students advance their knowledge in political science by specialising in different areas of the field. 

Climate change and the climate crisis are linked not only to various forms of human mobility (e.g., permanent or short-term migration, displacement, migration as adaptation, resettlement due to climate measures, and both internal and transnational migration) but also to the risk of rendering necessary migration impossible ("forced immobility") or prompting migration to areas particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards. These dimensions raise numerous questions from a human rights perspective: on one hand, the impact of climate change on the enjoyment of human rights and the need for political and legal concepts and frameworks to adequately address these issues present significant challenges; on the other hand, individuals seeking to leave their place of origin for environmental reasons encounter inadequate protections for their rights under existing human rights and migration or refugee law (e.g., the Geneva Refugee Convention). This course aims to address and analyse this complexity from a political science perspective.

Introductions to the respective topics by the lecturer, reading and processing of academic literature, brief contributions by students, group and individual assignments, short films, discussions of the course literature, and a short written paper.

Completion of readings and assignments, regular active participation, timely submission of assignments, occascionally presentation of individual assignments, attendance, short written paper.

Cundill, G. et al (2021) ‘Toward a climate mobilities research agenda: Intersectionality, immobility, and policy responses’, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 69, July 2021, pp. 1- 7, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102315

Mayrhofer, M. and Ammer, M. (2022) ‘Climate mobility to Europe: The case of disaster displacement in Austrian asylum procedures’, Frontiers in Climate, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2022.990558/full

Cristel, C. (2017) ‘The inadequacy of international refugee law in response to environmental migration’, in Mayer, B. and Crépeau, F. (eds.) Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law, Cheltenham/Northampton: Edwar Elgar Publishing, 85-107.

successful completion of compulsory module 1 to 3