Studiegids

nl en

Remittances and (In)Security

Vak
2023-2024

Admission requirements

  • Only students of the MSc Crisis and Security Management can take this course.

  • This course only offers a place to a maximum number of 25 students.

  • Students can only register for one elective

Description

Remittances—the money migrants send home—are not on the security studies agenda but should be. Why? One reason is that €700 billion was remitted last year through official channels, with perhaps another €700 billion transferred through unofficial channels. Some remittances are spent on things related to human security, such as healthcare, education, food, and development. But remittances can also stoke protest, repression, and civil wars. While in moments of emergency—natural disasters, wars, pandemics—remittances are crucial for receivers and receiving states. Increasingly, states are getting into the game by incentivizing, directing, stopping, and politicizing remittances. In the real world of security—human, military, political, and economic—remittances are crucial. This class aims to do something new: open-up the study of remittances and security studies. We will address issues such as global justice, war and peace, famine, and regime change, we will consider different case studies, and our investigations will range from the philosophical to the concrete.

Course objectives

After finalizing this course, students will be able to:

  • Understand the global importance of remittances as a security issue.

  • Understand and critically reflect upon the significance of remittances as an issue that cuts across many security-related topics.

  • Critique and criticize theories and arguments related to the topic.

  • Use theoretical and empirical knowledge to evaluate remittances.

  • Write an argumentative paper.

Timetable

On the right side of programme front page of the studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace

Mode of instruction

This course consists of 7 seminars. Students are required to participate actively in class discussion. Attendance is mandatory.

Attendance is mandatory. Students are only allowed to miss more than one lecture if there are special, demonstrable personal circumstances. The Board of Examiners, in consultation with the study advisors, will decide on such an exceptional exemption of mandatory attendance.

Total study load 140 hours:

  • 21 Contact hours.

  • 119 Self-study hours: reading, preparing lectures, assignments, etc

Assessment method

Assessment for this course is based on two assignments

Paper proposal

  • 15% of final grade

  • Resit not possible

  • Grade must be compensated in case of a fail (grade < 5.50)

Final paper

  • 85% of final grade

  • Resit is possible

  • Grade must be 5.50 or higher to pass the course

  • Resit takes the same form

The calculated overall course grade must be at least 5.50 in order to pass the course. If the calculated overall course grade is lower than 5.50, students are also permitted to resit the 85% final paper assignment.

In the case of written assessment methods, the examiner can always initiate a follow-up conversation with the student to establish whether the learning objectives have been met.

Reading list

The literature will consist of academic articles and policy documents, links to which will be provided in the syllabus.

Registration

Register yourself via MyStudymap for each course, workgroup and exam (not all courses have workgroups and/or exams). Do so on time, before the start of the course; some courses and workgroups have limited spaces. You can view your personal schedule in MyTimetable after logging in.

Registration for this course is possible from t.b.a..

Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.

More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.

Contact

Matthew Hoye
Email: j.m.hoye@fgga.leidenuniv.nl

Remarks

All other information.