SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGIST
Forced migration and refugee research has been experiencing a boom in German-speaking regions since around 2015. This handbook explores the field in all its breadth and at the same time critically reflects on the current state of research. Part I of the volume discusses the historical development of the research field on a theoretical level, its (trans)disciplinary approaches and research ethics issues. Part II offers a discussion of important core terms and concepts of the research field. Part III is empirically oriented and deals with forced migration and refugees in relation to other actors and political patterns of action. Finally, Part IV looks at forced migration and asylum policies in different regions of the world. The handbook is aimed at researchers and teachers as well as students and interested practitioners.
Paperback version published by Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (BpB) in 2024
Reviews by Felicitas Hillmann in Soziopolis (2023), Simon W. Kolbe on socialnet. (2023), Michael Mayer on H/Soz/Kult (2024), Marianne Heimbach-Steins in theologie.geschichte 19 (2024)
The increased presence of Somalis has brought much change to East African towns and cities in recent decades, change that has met with ambivalence and suspicion, especially within Kenya. This volume demystifies Somali residence and mobility in urban East Africa, showing its historical depth, and exploring the social, cultural and political underpinnings of Somali-led urban transformation. In so doing, it offers a vivid case study of the transformative power of (forced) migration on urban centres, and the intertwining of urbanity and mobility. The volume will be of interest for readers working in the broader field of migration, as well as anthropology and urban studies.
Paperback version published in August 2022
Reviews by John Paul Kasujja in Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43 (13): 2474-2476 (2020), Serah Shani in City & Society, doi:10.1111/ciso.12345 (2020), Nasra Smith in African Studies Quarterly 20 (1): 129-130 (2021) and Daniel Thompson in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 28(1): 366-367 (2022)
This volume challenges the concept of the ‘new African middle class’ with new theoretical and empirical insights into the changing lives in Sub-Saharan Africa. Diverse middle classes are on the rise, but models of class based on experiences from other regions of the world cannot be easily transferred to the African continent. Empirical contributions, drawn from a diverse range of contexts, address both African histories of class formation and the political roles of the continent’s middle classes, and also examine the important interdependencies that cut across inter-generational, urban-rural and class divides. This thought-provoking book argues emphatically for a revision of common notions of the 'middle class', and for the inclusion of insights 'from the South' into the global debate on class.
Middle Classes in Africa is suitable for students and scholars across a range of disciplines, as well as NGOs and policy makers with an interest in African societies.
Reviews by Henning Melber in Africa Spectrum, 53 (1): 129–131 (2018) and Reinhart Kößler, Das Reden von der Mitte – ideologischer Ballast eines Verlegenheitsbegriffs. Soziologische Revue, 43 (1): 64–71 (2020)
Using autobiographical accounts of East African converts to Islam, this book examines the role that conversion played in the course of their lives. It shows that, contrary to common assumptions, the patterns of justification do not necesarrily reflect the cause of conversion, but are rather influenced by the active Islamic missionary movements. In multi-religious East Africa, this means that the element of religious demarcation plays a major role in the narratives. In addition, the narratives are characterized by the individual's search for a place in society.
Review by Jörn Thielmann in Islamic Africa, 7: 295-298 (2016)
Read Chapters 1 (Einleitung/Introduction), 3 (Islamische Missionsbewegungen und Konkurrenz/Islamic Missionary Movements and Competition), 6 (Konversion als soziale Reorientierung/Conversion as Social Reorientation), 7 (Konversion als moralische Festigung/Conversion as Moral Stabilisation), 8 (Konversion als intellektuelle Entscheidung/Conversion as Intellectual Decision) and 9 (Konversion als Grenzziehung/Conversion as Boundary Making)