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Deportation as a Mean of Migration and Population Control
Ausschaffen – Deportationen als Mittel der Migrations- und Bevölkerungskontrolle
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:53:36
Abstract
In the last decades, deportation has developed to a massively and routinely used instrument to control migration and population. The general perception notwithstanding, deportation is an eminently complex mechanism of statecraft. The course discusses the “normalization” of deportation in a global perspective focusing on the manifold involved techniques.
Objective
A) The students know central developments of deportation as a means of migration and population control in the last decades in their global dimension. B) They are familiar with the different techniques involved in the deportation of people and their role in these developments. C) They are able to assess the instrument of deportation as well as the deployed techniques in their social contexts.
Content
Deportations appear to be a legitimate and effective solution in dealing with people who cross national borders without authorization or who are no longer allowed to stay within these borders. However, the supposedly simple act of forcibly deporting foreign nationals from national territory is an extraordinarily complex mechanism of state action. The different techniques and technologies on which deportation practices are based contribute to this complexity. The event will focus on the latter. The lecture considers the technologies that have been used to establish deportability, to search and identify persons to be deported, to immobilize them and to deport them. A broad spectrum of technologies of surveillance, identification, communication, confinement, sanitary control or transport is discussed in their modes of operation, their interaction with each other and with other factors (especially with the concept of "assemblages"). A look is also taken at the techniques and technologies used in resistance to state control and deportation. The question will be explored how technologies and their transformation are linked to the legal, political, cultural, and social preconditions of deportation practices and what significance they have acquired in the process. In a contemporary historical dimension, it will be asked what role technologies have played in the development of deportation regimes, especially in the postulated "deportation turn" since the 1990s, i.e. the massive increase in deportations in many countries of the world. The lecture focuses on Europe, the Middle East and Africa on the one hand and North and Central America on the other.
General Information
- Language
- German
- Levels
- DS , DR , MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture | Ausschaffen – Deportationen als Mittel der Migrations- und Bevölkerungskontrolle |
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
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GESS Science in Perspective (Only the courses listed below will be recognized as "GESS Science in Perspective" courses. Further below you will find courses under the category "Type B courses Reflections about subject specific methods and content" as well as the language courses. During the Bachelor’s degree Students should acquire at least 6 ECTS and during the Master’s degree 2 ECTS. Students who already took a course within their main study program are NOT allowed to take the course again.)
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Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (Suitable for all students. Students who already took a course within their main study program are NOT allowed to take the course again.)
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Doctoral Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (More Information at: )