Education Research Current About VU Amsterdam NL
Login as
Prospective student Student Employee
Bachelor Master VU for Professionals
Exchange programme VU Amsterdam Summer School Honours programme VU-NT2 Semester in Amsterdam
PhD at VU Amsterdam Research highlights Prizes and distinctions
Research institutes Our scientists Research Impact Support Portal Creating impact
News Events calendar Woman at the top
Israël and Palestinian regions Culture on campus
Practical matters Mission and core values Entrepreneurship on VU Campus
Organisation Partnerships Alumni University Library Working at VU Amsterdam
Sorry! De informatie die je zoekt, is enkel beschikbaar in het Engels.
This programme is saved in My Study Choice.
Something went wrong with processing the request.
Something went wrong with processing the request.

Climate Change, Migration and Social Control

Climate Change, Migration and Social Control

This course examines migration control policies, including labor market access and deportation, to understand acceptance and rejection in Europe. It covers climate refugees, racialised group integration, and advanced control methods. Organisational processes for inclusive societies amid climate change are emphasized. Students can explore topics like migration enforcement, freedom of movement, labour rights, refugee status, and identity in mobility.

Climate-induced migration is an urgent topic of research and policy triggering hot debates around border control, detention and deportation, labour market inclusion, and refugees’ recognition. Policymakers, civil society, and academics have reached some corners in assessing how people on the move are perceived, managed, or rejected by host societies.

This course focuses on migration control policies and practices, from access to the labor market to deportation measures in order to investigate who is more likely to be welcomed (or rejected) from Europe and why.  The course dives deep into scholarly discussions on the refugees’ recognition (who’s a climate refugee?), (differentiated) integration of racialized groups, and methods of migration control (e.g., smart borders). Special attention is paid to the processes of organizing at different international, national, and local levels that respond to the needs of more inclusive societies in an era of mass mobility and climate change.

Bringing together sensitive aspects of migration control, the course encourages students to challenge their understanding of migration and state borders, as well as the role of organizations in shaping our understanding of mobility. The course offers students the chance to focus on their own subject within the field of migration management, choosing between enforcement of migration control, moral and legal debates on the freedom of movement, labour rights and social provisions for non-citizens, refugees’ legal status, or the hierarchization of identities during cross-border mobility.

Continue reading below for additional course information. 

Dr. Ioana Vrăbiescu

Dr. Ioana Vrăbiescu

Dr. Ioana Vrăbiescu is a Senior Assistant Professor at VU Amsterdam. She works on the intersection of climate change and human and non-human forced mobility (PI, Engaged Scholarship against Climate Change / ESCC-Water), focusing on India and the role of ethical emotions in migration control. Previously, she was a visiting scholar at the New School for Social Research (NY) and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Warwick and the University of Amsterdam. She conducted multi-sited fieldwork alongside the policing and deportation apparatus in France, the UK, and Romania, and ethnographic research with social services and organisations for migration management in Spain. She is a member of several professional networks, such as DAMR (Dutch Association for Migration Research), Migration and Diversity Research Centre (VU), ReSCU Lab, EASA, H-Migration.

Additional Course Information

We are here to help!

Feel free to contact us anytime.

Contact

  • Yota
  • Programme Coordinator
  • Esther
  • International Officer

Quick links

Homepage Culture on campus VU Sports Centre Dashboard

Study

Academic calendar Study guide Timetable Canvas

Featured

VUfonds VU Magazine Ad Valvas Digital accessibility

About VU

Contact us Working at VU Amsterdam Faculties Divisions
Privacy Disclaimer Veiligheid Webcolofon Cookies Webarchief

Copyright © 2025 - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam