Gendered Geographies of Power, Migration and Social Change

This course examines human mobility and social change through the analytical lens of gendered and generational power relations. Drawing on the Gendered Geographies of Power framework (Mahler & Pessar, 2001) together with the concepts of generation and life course, the course explores how demographic structures, socio-cultural norms, environmental pressures, political crises, conflicts and economic inequalities shape diverse forms of mobility and immobility. We address challenges related to gendered vulnerabilities and generational imbalances. The course investigates multiple mobility trajectories, family migration, retirement migration, labour mobility, irregular routes and asylum seeking, and their differentiated risks. Students are invited to critically engage with academic contributions from various disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, and development studies, as well as critical media to develop multifaceted analyses of selected social phenomena in the region.

This course examines human mobility and social change through the analytical lens of gendered and generational power relations. Drawing on the Gendered Geographies of Power framework (Mahler & Pessar, 2001) together with the concepts of generation and life course, the course explores how demographic structures, socio-cultural norms, environmental pressures, political crises and economic inequalities shape diverse forms of mobility and immobility.

We analyse demographic patterns such as youth-dominated populations, gender and generational imbalances, ageing societies and changing care needs. We explore gendered vulnerabilities linked to environmental change, conflict, and economic instability. The course investigates multiple mobility trajectories, family migration, retirement migration, labour mobility, irregular routes and asylum seeking, and their differentiated risks. We discuss shifts in gender roles within households and communities, including the experiences of those who remain immobile (left-behind populations), drawing on empirical case studies and qualitative materials such as interviews.

Spatial inequalities and power relations are approached through land ownership, home-making practices, welfare regimes, care chains, agricultural and domestic labour, and urban precarity. The course also examines how climate change amplifies existing gendered and generational hierarchies by affecting livelihoods, food production and access to water. Through lectures, text-based discussions, empirical case studies and student project work, participants gain a multidimensional understanding of how mobility, gender and generational dynamics intersect in shaping contemporary social transformations.

The course is suitable for students interested in combining the categories of gender, generation and power with the lived experience context of households, families, local communities and livelihoods, as well as the spatial contexts of home, land and natural environment. Students will be invited to critically engage with academic contributions from various disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, political science, social geography and development studies, as well as critical journalism and creative content to develop multifaceted analyses of selected social phenomena in the region. This workshop-style class will combine reading-based discussions and small exercises with larger individual or group tasks devoted to in-depth analysis of selected topics or case studies, culminating in class presentations.

Course structure:

1. Introduction: organisation and theoretical foundations (Human Geography, Gendered Geographies of Power and Life-Course Framework)

2. Demographic regimes I: youth-dominated populations & gendered transitions to adulthood

3. Demographic regimes II: ageing societies, care crises and labour shortages

4. Gender, environment and vulnerability

5. Mobility infrastructures and migration trajectories

6. Urban spaces, precarity and mobility

7. Guest lecture: Urban informality, housing precarity and gendered experiences

8. Household transformations and gender roles in migration contexts

9. Immobility and left-behind populations

10. Family, retirement and lifestyle migration

11. Labour, agriculture and migration

12. Climate change, gender and generation

13. Student project presentations and assessment

Academic literature:

Ahmed, A. (2015). Retiring to Spain: Women’s Narratives of Nostalgia, Belonging and Community. Policy Press.

Bettio, F., Simonazzi, A., & Villa, P. (2006). Change in care regimes and female migration: The „care drain” in the Mediterranean. Journal of European Social Policy, 16(3), 271–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928706065598

Coll-Planas, G., García-Romeral, G., & Martí Plademunt, B. (2021). Doing, being and verbalizing: Narratives of queer migrants from Muslim backgrounds in Spain. Sexualities, 24(8), 984–1002. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460720944589

Corrado, A., Castro, C. de, & Perrotta, D. (2016). Migration and Agriculture: Mobility and change in the Mediterranean area. Routledge.

Evertsen, K. F., & van der Geest, K. (2019). Gender, environment and migration in Bangladesh. Climate and Development, 12(1), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2019.1596059

Gallo, E., & Scrinzi, F. (2016). Gender, Racism, and Migrant Reproductive Labour in Italy and Europe. In: E. Gallo & F. Scrinzi (Eds.), Migration, Masculinities and Reproductive Labour: Men of the Home (pp. 85–129). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-37978-8_3

Khalil, A. (2014). Gender paradoxes of the Arab Spring. The Journal of North African Studies, 19(2), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2014.885782

King, R. (2011). ‘Mediterranean Homelands’: Transnational Perspectives on Continuing the Migratory Tradition across Generations. Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 20(2), 185–206.

Kraler, A., Kofman, E., Kohli, M., & Schmoll, C. (2011). Gender, Generations and the Family in International Migration. Amsterdam University Press.

Kronfol, N. M., Rizk, A., & Siba, M. (2015). Ageing and intergenerational family ties in Arab countries. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 21(11), 835–843. https://doi.org/10.26719/2015.21.11.835

Mahler, S. J., & Pessar, P. R. (2001). Gendered Geographies of Power: Analyzing Gender Across Transnational Spaces. Identities, 7(4), 441–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2001.9962675

Moreno, L. (2004). Spain’s Transition to New Risks: A Farewell to ‘Superwomen’. In: P. Taylor-Gooby (Ed.), New Risks, New Welfare (pp. 133–156). Oxford University Press Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/019926726X.003.0006

Poggio, T. (2011). The Housing Pillar of the Mediterranean Welfare Regime: Relations between Home Ownership and other Dimensions of Welfare in Italy. In: Beyond Home Ownership. Routledge.

Rosati, F., Coletta, V., Pistella, J., Scandurra, C., Laghi, F., & Baiocco, R. (2021). Experiences of Life and Intersectionality of Transgender Refugees Living in Italy: A Qualitative Approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), Article 23. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312385

Salih, R. (2002). Shifting Meanings of „Home” consumption and identity in Moroccan women’s transnational practices between Italy and Morocco. In: N. Al-Ali & K. Koser (Eds), New Approaches to Migration?.... (pp. 51–67). Routledge.

Schmoll, C. (2024). Women and Borders in the Mediterranean: The Wretched of the Sea. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45097-6

Sciortino, G. (2004). Immigration in a Mediterranean Welfare State: The Italian Experience in Comparative Perspective. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 6(2), 111–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/1387698042000273442

Sobczak-Szelc, K., & Fekih, N. (2020). Migration as one of several adaptation strategies for environmental limitations in Tunisia: Evidence from El Faouar. Comparative Migration Studies, 8(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-019-0163-1

Stonawski M., et al., 2026, Coping and Adaptation in Times of Exodus: Venezuelan Migration Decisions and Strategies, New York and London, Routledge

Timmerman, C., Fonseca, M. L., Praag, L. V., & Pereira, S. (2018). Gender and Migration: A Gender-Sensitive Approach to Migration Dynamics. Leuven University Press.

Van Praag, L. (2022). Gender, Environmental Change, and Migration Aspirations and Abilities in Tangier and Tinghir, Morocco. Human Ecology, 50(1), 23–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-021-00296-z

Vullnetari, J., & King, R. (2015). ‘Washing men’s feet’: Gender, care and migration in Albania during and after communism. Gender, Place & Culture, 23(2), 198–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2015.1013447

Other:

Future Migration Scenarios for Europe Horizon 2020 Project website: https://futuremigration.eu/all-case-study-areas/

Alice Evans’ blog The Great Gender Divergence: https://www.ggd.world/

After completing the course, students will have gained and/or developed the following knowledge, skills and competences:

a. Knowledge:

- Understands the relationships between various dimensions of social change or social experience, especially with regard to migration, modernity and diversity. (K_W02)

- Is aware of concepts and terms used in the humanities and social sciences in order to depict and discuss complex social phenomena, such as migration and social diversity, as well as the debates within and between individual disciplines in the study of these phenomena. (K_W04)

b. Abilities:

K_U01 - Is able to select and critically assess facts and opinions coming from various scientific, popular science, journalistic and other sources.

K_U02 - Is able to find, assess and employ the necessary data for desk research and to support one’s arguments.

K_U06 - Is able to present the results of individual and team academic work in an appropriate form of a structured and argued statement, both in the form of a written report and an oral presentation (conference talk or voice in a discussion). Knows the rules of using and citing data sources, including digital sources. At the same time, adheres to ethical principles, including those related to copyrights.

K_U08 - Is able to prepare written or oral/ visual content for the general public (journalistic, popular science) and with functional characteristics appropriate for the chosen medium.

K_U11 - Is able to plan and organize group work (define goals, stages, roles, select methods of research and presentation). Is able to take part in teamwork in various roles.

c. Social competences:

K_K02 - Is ready to take up teamwork - also in a research team – both as a team member and leader. Is able to appraise and critique the work of other team members and other teams in a polite and constructive way.

Class participation (regular reading and discussion) – 50%

Class presentation (topic/case studies) – 50%

Absences:

2 absences (2 meetings) are permissible,

3+ absences require individual consultation and risk failing to receive credits.