Vivian Gerrand – författare

What happens when Somalis find themselves in countries with which they have few obvious cultural links? In Australia, where a majority of Somalis are Australian citizens, this absence of cultural connection is only partly remedied within an official multicultural model. To understand the mechanics of contemporary belonging and the challenges faced by Western societies as they attempt to “integrate” Somali migrants, this book explores representations of Somali resettlement. How do particular representations contribute to or detract from Somali settlement and belonging in their host countries? What kinds of representations help Somalis to feel at home in their new contexts? In the contexts of Australia and Italy—taken as case studies—Somalis are marginalised in different ways. This book considers representations as “possible spaces” that may counter reductive anti-African and anti-Muslim stereotypes that still condition public perceptions of Somali settlement. Approaching the question of belonging from a variety of disciplines, representations that embody Somali subjectivities and enable movement beyond exclusive paradigms of Italian or Australian nationhood are taken into account. Each representation is assessed for its ability to invite new forms of identification that lead to a process of “taking place”.

This edited volume aims to problematise and rethink the contemporary European migrant crisis in the Central Mediterranean through the lens of the Black Mediterranean. Bringing together scholars working in geography, political theory, sociology, and cultural studies, this volume takes the Black Mediterranean as a starting point for asking and answering a set of crucial questions about the racialized production of borders, bodies, and citizenship in contemporary Europe: what is the role of borders in controlling migrant flows from North Africa and the Middle East?; what is the place for black bodies in the Central Mediterranean context?; what is the relevance of the citizenship in reconsidering black subjectivities in Europe? The volume will be divided into three parts. After the introduction, which will provide an overview of the theoretical framework and the individual contributions, Part I focuses on the problem of borders, Part II features essays focused on the body, and Part III isdedicated to citizenship.

This edited volume aims to problematise and rethink the contemporary European migrant crisis in the Central Mediterranean through the lens of the Black Mediterranean. Bringing together scholars working in geography, political theory, sociology, and cultural studies, this volume takes the Black Mediterranean as a starting point for asking and answering a set of crucial questions about the racialized production of borders, bodies, and citizenship in contemporary Europe: what is the role of borders in controlling migrant flows from North Africa and the Middle East?; what is the place for black bodies in the Central Mediterranean context?; what is the relevance of the citizenship in reconsidering black subjectivities in Europe? The volume will be divided into three parts. After the introduction, which will provide an overview of the theoretical framework and the individual contributions, Part I focuses on the problem of borders, Part II features essays focused on the body, and Part III isdedicated to citizenship.