Passports: identity and airports
Explore the sociological analysis of modern airports in this free course. Learn about the historical context of passports, their role in sorting populations, and their impact on racial subjects. Understand the significance of passports in airport security and the role of material objects in shaping social worlds.
This free course, Passports: identity and airports, offers a sociological analysis of the modern airport. Using a lively mixture of videos, interactive exercises and readings, the course explores how the social world of the airport is made and maintained. In particular, it investigates how the processes that constitute this world – queuing, check in, security clearance, moving around and so on – depend on relations between people and material objects.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
Understand the historical and sociological context of how passports became commonplace
Identify ways in which passport regimes are used to sort, categorise, order and classify populations
Consider ways that the passport can produce racialised subjects
Understand how the passport has become a staple of security in the modern airport
Understand the role of matter and the material in making social worlds by using the airport as a case study.