ATS2625 Mobile worlds: Borders, displacement and belonging

Why do politicians and citizens seem so threatened by refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants? Is it because these forms of human mobility challenge the traditional and outmoded nation-state system and the sense of social cohesion and security it has provided?. Or is it because of increasing anxiety, insecurity and inequality in a world changed forever by globalisation?. Mobile Worlds explores socially and culturally diverse forms of migrant experience, from among those known as gypsies, nomads, slaves, settlers, tourists, to refugees, asylum seekers and other displaced peoples, and the array of formal, informal and illegal migrants, guest workers, labour and love migrants, 'gold collar' workers and international students that move around the globe in ever increasing numbers. The subject seeks to explore the responses and interactions of diasporas, transnational and transilient networks and communities around the globe. The broader aim is to understand the diversity and implications of human movement, new border regimes and emerging trends that will characterise life in the future.