FORUM Refugee studies in today From challenges to a research horizon

Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich

Abstract: Th is article sets out to highlight present-day anthropological contribu- tions to the fi eld of forced migration and to the current debates on this topic in through the experience of developing an international and in terdisciplin- ary network for the study of refugees based in , Austria. To this end, this article engages with the grounding facts of the present Central European sociohis- torical context and global political trends, grapples with shift ing and questionable research funding landscapes such as the focus on “integration,” illustrates some of the main current research challenges, and highlights pressing topics. It concludes proposing a research horizon to counter present strong limitations on forced mi- gration research and steer this research toward a more meaningful direction. Keywords: Central Europe, encounter, forced migration, integration, refugee studies, research horizon

How can anthropology and anthropologists First, we will introduce ROR-n and give an contribute to the current refugee/migration overview of recent political developments in debate, particularly in Europe? How relevant is Austria and Central Europe, debating their im- anthropology to this topic today? Th is article plications to refugee-related matters. We will engages these questions through our experi- then succinctly outline the contemporary sce- ence in setting up and developing the Refugee nario of refugee studies in Austria and the most Outreach & Research Network (ROR-n), an relevant focus and funding shift s. Th e question international and interdisciplinary network for of “integration” emerges here as both funda- the study of forced migration based in Vienna, mental to the fi eld of forced migration in Eu- Austria. Th rough this experience, in turn, this rope and deeply fl awed. Next, we will set out article engages particular challenges in working experiences in dealing with research data while on forced migration studies in Central Europe prevailing public moods and opinions have and suggests a comprehensive research horizon largely been swayed toward the political right, to drive the discipline toward a fruitful endeavor. and then highlight new research challenges and

Focaal—Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology 87 (2020): 89–103 © Th e Authors doi:10.3167/fcl.2020.012803 90 | Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich blind spots. Finally, we will discuss what shift - From the outset, ROR-n comprised research ing political, funding, and research contexts institutes and independent expert researchers might imply for anthropology’s future role in in refugee studies in particular, and in human refugee studies. Th roughout these sections, we (im)mobility at large, aiming at both enduring aim to illustrate how anthropologists can con- and ad hoc collaborations for producing and tribute to the contemporary public and schol- sharing knowledge about processes of human arly refugee/migration debates through their displacement in general and Middle Eastern ref- particular expertise in how to approach forced ugees in particular. Furthermore, ROR-n’s eff orts migration, which in turn entails handling sensi- have also aimed at including displaced academ- tive research data, being pushed into a research ics in the network and academia, and to inform agenda, among other challenges. With this per- an interested public in Austria and beyond spective in mind, we conclude by proposing about processes of forced migration. Within this a research horizon to counter present strong broad frame, however, ROR-n’s eff orts have been limitations on forced migration research and geared toward utilizing established and new an- steer this research toward a more meaningful thropological insights as principles for the inclu- direction. sion of contributions from other disciplines, and the network’s outlook resonated with established trends in anthropology and forced migration Th e Refugee Outreach studies. and Research Network Anthropologists had been especially active in forced migration studies from this fi eld’s early Th e Refugee Outreach and Research Network, days. Based on a research tradition dating back is a cross-institutional, social- science-based co- to the 1970s and reaching far beyond the Euro- operative research and public outreach initia- pean context (see Chatty 2010; Chatty and Col- tive based at the Austrian Academy of Sciences chester 2002; Colson 2003; Colson et al. 1979; (AAS), with partners across various universities Fiddian-Qasmiyeh et al. 2014; Harrell-Bond and NGOs in Austria, as well as in Northern 1986; Malkki 1995; Reynell 1989; Sayigh 1979; , Hungary, Southern , , Verdirame and Harrell-Bond 2005), anthro- and elsewhere. It was founded aft er the sum- pologists have developed particular insights on mer of 2015, when the authors of this article, what the conditions of refugeeness entail and all anthropologists based at the AAS’s Institute on how questions of (im)mobility (Salazar and for Social Anthropology (ISA), called a series Smart 2012) aff ect relations between nation- of roundtable discussions aiming at setting up states, refugees, immigrants, and a variety of a transdisciplinary network for the study of other social actors. Anthropology, according to forced migration. Not many researchers were Dawn Chatty, has prioritized and continues to specializing in forced migration in Austria be- prioritize “the views of the uprooted, the dis- fore the summer of 2015, and the few who did placed, and the dispossessed.” It brings to light rallied mostly from the fi eld of European his- the voices and agency of those who are forced to tory and were knowledgeable in one particular leave or to stay, emphasizes their lived experi- group or area, for example, Jewish and Holo- ence over statistical data and scrutinizes as well caust studies, displacement from the Ex-Yugo- as documents “what happens to people, their slavia, or other salient topics associated with culture, and society when they are wrenched Austrian history. Th us, for those events, we from their territorial moorings, be they refu- invited academics specializing in migration in gees and exiles, development induced displaces, general. Besides historians and anthropologists, or mobile peoples evicted, restricted, and forced there were demographers, legal experts, geogra- to remain in one place” (2014: 74). However, as phers, linguists, and others. presented below, current global perspectives on Refugee studies in Austria today | 91 refugees and funding opportunities geared to- tion, mobilized by images of the harsh situation ward securitization and the subsumption of ref- of thousands of refugees waiting on Budapest’s ugee studies under migration studies, perhaps Keleti train station and the rising awareness especially in Europe, might overlook those par- about the mounting death tolls of refugees in ticular well-established insights in our discipline. the Mediterranean. But aft er an initial phase of enthusiastic welcome by large sectors of civil society, growing popular concerns were suc- Th e political context in Austria cessfully manipulated and instrumentalized by conservative and neo-nationalist political forces. To understand forced migration research ten- Th is phase was thus marked by political skepti- dencies in Austria, it is necessary to consider cism and critique rather than by a friendly atti- this country’s rich history in receiving large num- tude toward refugees and diversity. bers of migrants, forced or otherwise. During Latent right-wing populist sentiments were the past three hundred years, Austria has ex- raised by politicians and increasingly by Aus- perienced large infl uxes of people (Kuzmany trian citizens, especially at the borders, who and Garstenauer 2017), many of them in recent saw themselves confronted with the arrival of history. Major infl uxes were brought up, for thousands of people within a few weeks and the example, by the Prague Spring events of 1968 overwhelming presence of volunteers, security that took more than 162,000 Czech refugees to forces, journalists, and spectators. Th is resulted Austria, and the Bosnian Civil War of the 1990s, in a policy of increasingly rigid seclusion and when Austria became home to 95,000 Bosnian in a reduction of public and media discourses refugees (Kraler and Stacher 2002). Accord- to the topic of the “refugee crisis” while inten- ing to Leonardo Schiocchet (2016: 236), even tionally confl ating refugees’ requests with labor though the 2015 numbers are indeed the high- migration. Th e capitalist logic behind this was est recorded since World War II, they do not to put domestic labor markets under rapidly in- look as unique in historical perspective. What creasing pressure until substantial parts of the is unique this time is that refugees in 2015/2016 local work force would demand the strength- were labeled according to their diff erent reli- ening of existing limitations of access to these gious background. Contrary to the Czechoslo- local labor markets. In Hungary, for example, vak refugees of the late 1960s and the Bosnian a rhetoric language regime (Kroskrity 2000) of refugees of the mid-1990s, the Middle Eastern “crises” was mobilized in 2015 around the topic refugees of 2015 did not come from previous of foreign groups entering the Schengen Area imperial Habsburg domains. Aft er 2016, and on Hungarian territory. Th is rhetoric deployed a especially aft er 2017, their reception became binary between citizens and foreigners wherein increasingly characterized by neo-nationalist, the latter were framed as a “threat” to the Hun- confrontational exclusion. garian population (Kallius et al. 2016: 27). While However, this shift was not a change of reg- Austria and then Austrian Chancellor Werner ister particular to Austria, but it accompanied Feymann had openly criticized Hungary for and reacted to diff erent political discussions in their handling of refugees on the move (Die neighboring countries. Together with , Presse 2015) already in mid-October, most Aus- Italy, Germany, and , Austria belongs to trian politicians had changed their tones from those fi ve European Union countries that have Willkommenskultur to the urge to enforce “for- accommodated the highest proportions, per tress Europe.” Th is shift was accompanied by the capita, of refugees from the Greater Middle building of several fences in and around Austria East between 2015 and 2018. Uneasiness with and its neighbor countries and the temporary Austria’s reluctant refugee politics grew within suspension of free movement in the Schengen large sectors of mainly urban Austrian popula- Area starting from early autumn of 2015. To- 92 | Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich gether with media reporting about the Cologne developments, from Brexit to Trump’s rise as events on New Year’s Eve 2015/2016, these con- US president to Putin’s quest for hegemony— cerns transformed public opinion. Hence, at the developments that have mostly been welcomed beginning of 2016, Austria limited the number by local neo-nationalists in Central Europe. In of refugee arrivals by drastically restricting the our opinion, it is quite appropriate to address number of admitted asylum applications (80 per the current situation as the return of right-wing day). populism and neo-nationalism (Gingrich and Th e new center-right Vienna government’s Banks 2006) on a global scale, but with clear chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, played a crucial role confl ict potentials and strong regional speci- in closing the so-called Balkan route while still fi cities, some of which include the intentional being foreign minister in 2016/2017. Even while undermining of standard democratic rights. As subsequently serving as chancellor and EU coun- Don Kalb, Douglas Holmes, and Andre Ging- cil chair, he was forging an alliance with neigh- rich discussed with several younger scholars boring forces in power, such as the new populist during two American Anthropological Associa- and right-wing coalition government in Italy, tion panels in late 2017, such a set of consensual the Orbán administration in Hungary, and the opinions makes it even more important to focus right-wing Berlin coalition partner from Bavaria. on anthropology’s specifi c tasks within these New joint political ventures within Europe were transformed contexts. followed by the EU-Turkey summit and the signing of the deal in March 2016 (Župarić-Iljić and Valenta 2019: 379). In turn, the 2017 par- Current trends in refugee studies in Austria liamentary elections in Austria resulted in the recent takeover of the federal government by It is not surprising that such a substantial change a conservative cum neo-nationalist coalition. in the overall domestic and regional political New political alliances were now based on the constellation also comes along with conse- criminalization of refugees and those involved quences for the funding of research in refugee in refugee aid, especially when connected to topics. As a result, funding through bottom-up border crossing, such as maritime search and applications has become increasingly limited, rescue actions. In Austria, this criminalization while funding by top-down, predefi ned calls is resulted in a rapid growth of enforced depor- more and more closely dependent on the calling tations, especially to Afghanistan, new limits institutions’ satisfaction with end results—with on rights for merely completing any legal pro- an ensuing tendency toward undermining the cedures, and a whole avalanche of new restric- constitutional right for freedom of research. tions for the resident population of migrants While public and academic attention in late and asylum seekers, as well as for those already 2015 was focused mostly on reasons of fl ight holding asylum—most of it with a strong em- and background information on people arriv- phasis upon individual asylum seekers’ personal ing to Austria, this attention changed over time. responsibilities. Th ose entitled to stay must un- One strand of research of refugees in Austria dergo strictly codifi ed procedures that would and Central Europe at large diverted into the “teach” them Austrian “values” and make sure securitization of borders, surveillance, and con- that their “integration” into Austrian society trol, while the other converged toward more tra- would not be a choice of degree of identifi cation ditional topics within migration studies, such as but a duty ensured by several pressure mecha- “integration” or labor market inclusion (today nisms. For example, social welfare assistance is oft en claimed as the main part of the integration dependent on language skills. process by certain political actors). To an extent, these Central European trans- But what is integration? And can it be an im- formations are the regional counterpart to global portant anthropological category to understand Refugee studies in Austria today | 93 processes of forced migration in Europe and East and have little to no prior knowledge about beyond? Many new projects to research (mostly these subjects, their history, their language, or Middle Eastern) refugees in Europe emerged in their situation outside Europe. Some of these the months following the summer of 2015. Proj- researchers have been even preeminent in the ects about and in general also media, discussing complex matters in a gener- gained traction, as they were motivated by an alized way, such as by saying “Syrian values” or urge to probe into the ability of these commu- “Islamic principles.” Some have also been pre- nities to adapt to Europe. Th e centrality of the eminently featured in academic institutions’ European context and the anxiety generated by web pages, reports, and publications. While a the coming of large numbers of mostly Muslim few of these studies have their merits, in general refugees pushed most of these projects to be, they have also contributed to creating distorted in one way or another, about what state agents, views of refugees, Middle Easterners, and the case workers, and academics alike have elusively Middle East. As a result, for example, religious called “integration.” practices are said to be more normative than Th e summer of 2015, when refugees, partic- they tend to be, and worldviews have become ularly from the Middle East, arrived in Europe, overly estranged. became known as the “summer of migration” Most of these distorted views stem from pre- and made evident the asymmetric meeting be- conceived notions guiding research questions tween Europe and the Middle East. A part of the and interviews, making their way into research European population, especially Middle East- practices through the popular focus on “inte- ern Europeans and part of the European polit- gration.” Th is focus stems from both the Aus- ical left , mobilized a sociopolitical vernacular trian and Central European research traditions evoking the history of European foreign policy dating back to the 1980s previously mentioned, in the Middle East, resignifying European his- and from questions raised by the media and tory and Europe–Middle East relations to ac- governments, motivated either by fear or by a count for what many deemed a crisis. Various genuine preoccupation with the future of Mid- social actors evoked this encounter diff erently, dle Easterners, Muslims, and refugees, but of- sympathetically or unsympathetically, making ten alien to these subjects. We will not address this vernacular strongly polysemic (Schiocchet here the more radical securitization research on 2016). Th us, aft er the summer of 2015, knowl- Middle Easterners—refugees or not—such as edge about forced migrants in Europe became those informing (or rather being informed) by imperative to understanding how these dias- programs such as those of Frontex (the Euro- poric subjects engage with Europe, how they pean Border and Coast Guard Agency), which connect this region to the Middle East, and how point to the necessity of investing in securing this encounter shapes and is shaped by contem- the European borders overseas, for example, in porary global sociohistorical processes. Turkey and . Nevertheless, what we have Although Europe has had a small group of been addressing here is only something seem- competent researchers exploring the topic of in- ingly much more inconsequential: research that tegration before (Ager and Strang 2008; Caglar seeks to discuss if, for example, Afghan refugees and Glick Schiller 2006; Esser 2001; Halm and can “integrate” in Germany. Sauer 2006; Heitmeyer et al. 1997; Schiff auer It was within this context, facing these new 2011), the numbers of research projects soared manifestations of the 2015 refugee situation as aft er the summer of 2015, most of them being it emerged, that ISA took the initiative to es- proposed and/or conducted by scholars with tablish ROR-n. Since 2015, ROR-n itself has little or no experience in the fi elds of Middle gone through several main phases. During the Eastern, Islamic, or refugee studies. Many of fi rst phase, initial calls for joining ROR-n were these scholars have never set foot in the Middle widely supported. When the tides of public opin- 94 | Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich ion (including what questions academics should advantages and disadvantages of being a “small answer) subsequently changed, however, the country,” including dense and short networks number of actual and active participants shrank of people who all seem to know each other— considerably, and since 2016, this largely turned features of which can be seen in what follows. into a second phase of diffi cult uphill struggle. During the fi rst and the second phases, ROR-n It implied the forging of coalitions among small signed a contract for a research fi nanced by the numbers of engaged researchers across Austria previous center-left coalition government. Some and beyond its borders, scholars who either al- intermediate results of that research were leaked ready had a commitment in refugee studies or to the ministry that had commissioned and who were eager to specialize. During this sec- funded it, headed at the time by Sebastian Kurz, ond phase, it was certainly very helpful, despite who was busily preparing his own electoral cam- insuffi cient fi nancial support, to have the for- paign and government takeover. His offi ce tried mal organizational backing of such a widely re- to publicize a version of these partial and inter- spected institution as the AAS.1 mediate results without any prior consultation. Sustained local and transnational ROR-n Simultaneously, a ministry subdivision events—including public outreach and research launched substantial eff orts toward rewriting activities by ISA-based anthropologists helped and reinterpreting the fi nal report while it was to consolidate and reenergize ROR-n for the in the making. For example, the research report third and ongoing phase since the conservative emphasized that two-thirds of refugees and and right-wing takeover of the federal govern- asylum seekers appreciated the rule of law and ment in early fall of 2017. So, ROR-n clearly was the protection of asylum rights in Austria. By unable to have any signifi cant impact on the contrast, the ministry’s offi ce alternatively pro- general changes of public opinion in Central posed a politically charged version of the same Europe during 2016/2017, let alone preventing chunk of data by highlighting the allegedly them. But ROR-n certainly contributed to the shocking information that one in three asylum consolidation and reinforcement of the ranks seekers was skeptical or cautious about the Aus- and fi les of social science research in refugee trian legal system. In the end, the AAS’s high- studies under the conditions of emerging right- est representatives had to intervene in order to wing hegemonic takeover processes. In this stop the ministry’s attempt at using research limited but fairly successful endeavor, it became results for its own political agenda while these crucial to insist on the necessity of indepen- research results had not even gone through ad- dence for our research. equate peer review, let alone receiving approval for any form of publication. ROR-n therefore successfully dealt with such blatant attempts at Handling data and results ideological instrumentalization and managed to publish that fi nal report according to academic Th e sensitivity of refugeeness in the current po- standards. litical context in Central Europe pushed ROR- Second, we refl ected on data handling con- n’s members to constantly refl ect on how to deal cerning cross-disciplinary cooperation with in- with research data. Methodologically speaking, creasing signifi cance. Forging these forms of we pursued this especially in three ways. First, cooperation with other social scientists was ex- we insisted on independence concerning the tremely important for advancing ROR-n—from question of who controlled public dissemina- jointly draft ing to submitting project grant ap- tion of research results, in terms of the research- plications through defi ning and carrying out ers themselves or the funding institution. As phases of intermediate summaries, to those of Ulf Hannerz and Andre Gingrich (2017: 12–13) fi nal synthesis. Engaging in questions of forced have pointed out, Austria shares many of the migration from multiple disciplines requires a Refugee studies in Austria today | 95 common denominator. Th ere must be some acknowledgment of one’s right to a refugee sta- ethical understandings of responsibilities and tus under legal ambivalence of judges in Austria limits. Matthew Gibney (2014: 48) explains became increasingly a question of acknowledg- that already defi ning forced migration requires ment and “political subjectifi cation.” Coined “careful consideration,” since it involves norma- by Didier Fassin, the term describes “the pro- tive issues as much as an evaluation of “moral duction of subjects and subjectivities that hold judgements about the legitimacy of the move- political signifi cance within the framework of ment in question.” Hence, working with vulner- social interaction” (2005: 533), and can be un- able groups requires carefully considering what derstood in this context as being steadfast about “do no harm” means in the respective context the acknowledgment of possible reasons to seek and the living conditions of those being re- asylum and avoid deportation. Hence, it speaks searched. A multidisciplinary network allows against the politics of reducing a person’s biog- for exploring more than one viewpoint and raphy to a legal categorization. In reaction to helps identify ethical issues to be discussed. pressures by the government, xenophobic ex- Within these frames of cooperation, how- periences, and other frustrations, accessing the ever, it became equally crucial to maintain and fi eld and establishing rapport became a chal- enhance independent anthropological inqui- lenge of its own. While the oft en-used snowball ries. Our colleagues in sociology, demography, technique for fi nding respondents had worked or geography usually work through interpreters well in other contexts, many refugees in present- while they tend to pursue a much more explicit day Austria consciously avoided being grouped emphasis on quantifi able methods of inquiry. with other refugees, at least in offl ine contexts. Th e eff ect of both is that this would easily down- Approaching people through governmental grade anthropologists’ roles to those of assis- organizations or charity initiatives was oft en tant and auxiliary researchers, if pursued at the not a viable way to ensure mutual trust or the same time and location with the same subjects, willingness to participate in research either, de- with little opportunity for anthropology’s main pending on the forced migrant’s experiences method: participant observation. Taking advan- with authorities, control by institutions that work tage of anthropology’s full potential therefore close to the government, and/or growing fear required separate inquiries in order to carry out and uncertainty. While many of our refugee in- participant observation in procedural asylum terlocutors avoided people of the same linguistic contexts, as well as through our conversations group offl ine, they behaved diff erently online: in native languages such as , Farsi/Dari, norms and motives of sociality oft en allowed ex- Pashtu, and Kurdish. In the end, the results de- change that forewent sensitive political grounds livered by anthropologists were decisive—re- and the consequences of supposed political mis- sults that focus on agents’ perspectives and on alignment. Political debates about desirability the precision of situated contexts or emic cat- and acceptability of foreigners in Austria were egories, as well as social and cultural dynamics equally mirrored in new or long-established among agents. Examples of these insights will migrant communities in Austria, who attached follow in the next sections. diff erent values to diff erent interethnic relations Th ird, we reconsidered processes of data and acted accordingly. Diff erent online forums acquisition due to a growing sensitivity to par- harbor community exchange, discussions on ticular understandings of ethical complexities Austrian politics, questions of identity, child and responsibilities of working with refugees. rearing and moral codes of conduct, the pass- Th e new discourse within Austria turned refu- ing on of one’s legacy, promotion of events and geeness itself into a sensitive topic and the cat- places of importance to the various actors, and egory into one of high political alertness, but more. For this reason, among others, we learned it also rose awareness among scholars that the that in refugee studies, at least in Central Eu- 96 | Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich rope today, it is unwise to exclude participant terview partners. Th is is when the general eth- observation on the internet, and social media in ical guideline “do no harm” comes into eff ect, particular, which in turn requires specifi c sets of of course. In this view, responsible and consci- ethical guidelines. entious research among refugees in the current fi eld setting requires an additional set of skills to all other “traditional” research skills. Th e New challenges and blind spots ability to work with trauma and traumatic ex- perience before, during, and aft er the fl ight be- Let us now turn to some of the sensitive is- comes more and more pressing. Research, and sues and open research puzzles that are likely interviewing in particular, can create trigger to remain on the agenda of future activities in situations. Th erefore, responsible and informed these fi elds of research. ROR-n observes ethical competencies of dealing with cases of dissocia- guidelines that have been developed by follow- tion2 and other similar phenomena, as well as ing the example of the Oxford Refugee Studies their cultural expressions, become an ethical Centre. Still, guidelines always require creative requirement. In addition, since many of these assessments for specifi c situations, as we have research situations are beyond classical anthro- suggested research online. Th e growing rele- pological training and need professional atten- vance of ethnographic grey areas around ethical tion, a broad network and collaboration with and legal borderlines also includes questions practitioners in various fi elds is advisable. Un- of “implicit ethnography” and limits for regu- der conditions where nonprofi t organizations lar fi eldwork under changing legal regimes. For depend on the benevolence of state funding, it example, one ROR-n anthropologist was ap- becomes important to understand the enmesh- proached by a private company recruiting staff ment of actors in civil society and politics and for “anchor camps” at the German-Austrian bor- form necessary alliances. der, eff ectively a new type of deportation cen- Another sensitive issue is language and cul- ter. Seeking to learn more about the job and tural competence. While mastering the local the institution, this anthropologist agreed to language is a prerequisite in most ethnographic a phone interview that revealed information, studies, and the acquisition of jargon a common which would not have become easily accessible learning process along fi eldwork, for refugees in otherwise, about inmates’ actual numbers being Austria certain words regarding their life in the planned above legalized numbers, about a strict country were appropriated from German legal “zero contact” policy for staff members regard- jargon. One such example is the term al-bīšaīd ing NGO and media representatives, and about (Bescheid) when referring to a positive decision the absence of any professional interpreters. on an asylum application. Literarily translated, As problematic as such rare occasions for im- it means a legal decision of any kind. Since the plicit investigations may be, we do regard them letter that refugees receive from the Austrian as ethically legitimate forms of inquiry, as long federal offi ce for immigration and asylum when as they do not become the main path of ethno- granted asylum is headed (like most offi cial no- graphic investigation but are merely additional tices) “Bescheid,” an appropriation is used by venues for facilitating and accelerating ethno- Arabic speakers in Austria as a synonym for a graphic inquiry. legal refugee status. Hence, researchers not only So, while the tasks of public outreach are must handle the local language and jargon but growing for anthropological refugee studies, the also must be familiar with practices, terminolo- relevance of certain nonpublic, “gray” elements gies, and language appropriations typical to the also may increase. Gray areas are also involved, regions they are analyzing. here and elsewhere, whenever anthropologists Handling and interpreting laws, norms, and gain insights that may be harmful for their in- practices relating to personal statuses, which Refugee studies in Austria today | 97 are under the control of religious authorities in known of Middle Eastern Christian refugees many Middle Eastern countries, is also sensi- with appropriate fi rst names, allowing them to tive. Since they might diff er from Austrian state claim a Muslim background from which they law, they create legal constraints for forced mi- would now convert into Christianity. grants, such as in matters of legal marriage age, Still, most cases were fairly authentic, such cousin marriage, polygamy, funerary practices, as the example of a 65-year-old ex-Communist or inheritance rules, along with uncertainty. and atheist from Baghdad who felt blessed by Such practices do not fi t neatly into Austrian the welcoming support of the local Maronite law and create administrative problems for civil community in Vienna to an extent that per- servants that could be mitigated with interven- suaded him into conversion, now also enjoying tions including anthropologists, for example, some additional protection from the powerful through extrajudicial resolutions. In sum, these Catholic Church in Austria, which is the local gray areas and blind spots require diligent and Maronite community’s main mentor. Issues of responsible handling. It also falls into the ethics fi nding a community of belonging and (re)es- of responsible research to enlarge one’s skill set tablishing social networks do not always have according to the specifi c developments of the to coincide with expressions of belonging in fi eld under the current political conditions and settings before arriving in Austria. Th ese shift s the social realities that these create. in self-understandings, pragmatics, and senti- ments are topics that must be considered un- der due attention to the “lifeworlds” (Jackson Future role of anthropology/ 2012: 7) of the respective actors. Several other anthropologists sociocultural dimensions of the Central Euro- pean refugee situation remain burning issues Th e shift ing political context and the current of social welfare as much as for research, even developments and challenges described so far though the number of newly incoming asy- require a thorough refl ection of anthropology’s lum seekers at Austrian borders has decreased future role in refugee studies in Central Europe considerably. Th ese burning issues include, for and beyond. Part of this refl ection includes instance, the disproportionately high numbers the exploration of topics with multiple socio- of fairly isolated young men (reportedly one of cultural dimensions, the responsible choice of the underlying sets behind many Islamic State research topics and the close consideration of recruitments in Europe) or substantial fi gures ethical guidelines. Within the Austrian context, of unaccompanied minors—another legal and certain phenomena must be addressed care- ethical gray area for research in the absence of fully to not harm those involved. Th e issue of parental consent. religious conversions is a case in point. In 2015, Another matter that will continue to require declared conversions to Christianity by refugees close attention by research as much as by health were still fairly frequent among asylum seekers institutions concerns the diagnosis and treat- claiming a Muslim background, until Austrian ment of certain hereditary diseases, occurring and other EU authorities ruled that the threat with signifi cant frequency among parts of the of persecution upon return did not represent a refugee populations. Certain congenital meta- legally valid reason for granting asylum in these bolic diseases and hereditary blood disorders cases. Th e subtext was that these were not cred- are in fact much more common wherever “close ible but fake conversions. A minor number of marriages” occur more regularly. Th ey require cases may well have represented faked instances. special care by host institutions that are rarely For example, in some Shiite orientations, the well prepared for this. Th e intersection between principle of acceptable concealing would make health and (forced) migration is hence a topic this ethically permissible. A few other cases are that once again invites transdisciplinarity and 98 | Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich touches on several other topics such as public of the local refugee population from 2015 to health, medical research, and care. With chang- 2017. In fact, this third cluster of possible sets ing demographics, this nexus might become a of reasons underlying such high divorce rates pressing topic. could also highlight a hidden, liberating dimen- As yet another example for current and future sion in asylum rights. focal fi elds of research, we would like to address Topics like these cannot fully be explained the growing divorce rates among asylum-hold- through statistics. Th ey need a thorough un- ing or asylum-seeking families in the 2015–2018 derstanding of contexts before the fl ight, during refugee populations in Austria. Th ere are cur- the fl ight, and in the current living situations rently no statistics or detailed studies, but these in Austria. Talking about sensitive topics and divorce rates seem to be higher than among unpleasant private experiences can be accom- previous groups of Middle Eastern refugees, modated only in qualitative, adequate, and and they occur faster aft er arrival. Related eth- trust-secured manners. While macro-analysis nographic cases indicate the disruptive and and big data are usually of minor interest in an- traumatizing conditions before and during dis- thropology, it is the deep and detailed analysis placement, as well as the precariousness and of reasons, backgrounds, and meaning-mak- uncertainty aft er arriving in Austria as one ma- ing that anthropologists master best. In highly jor set of underlying factors. A case in point is sensitive political contexts and continuously the story of a Damascus couple, married for 28 emerging and changing conditions that con- years, whose son had been draft ed by the Syrian stantly produce new vulnerabilities and social government’s army. He was repeatedly reported minefi elds, such insights can be of high value to have died. Even though this was not true, his for understanding refugeeness—but only if eth- parents have not heard any news of him for some ical obligations to protect respondents from un- time. Since their arrival in Vienna, the mother is intentional harm are considered. Furthermore, seeking a divorce, claiming her husband is not such topics and many others do not neatly fi t doing enough for their son. Th e desperate hus- the dominant integration perspective, and call band regrets that in Vienna, wider Damascus for a comprehensive and more “emic” research family circles who would have helped mediate program. such family tensions are not available. Anthropologists, striving to master the lan- Other ethnographic cases suggest diff erent guage of their interlocutors, literally and sym- causal factors, possibly of higher relevance with bolically, are in even greater demand during young married adults among these refugees. times of legal, social, and political uncertainty, Here the proportion of pragmatically situated, when the proper extensive background knowl- and even “fake” marriages during the displace- edge and transcultural understanding can help ment processes seems to be somewhat higher, avoid misconceptions. Nevertheless, even an- for reasons of temporary comfort and support, thropologists must explore a more nuanced and at times to be dissolved swift ly. Other clusters comprehensive inclusive research program than of cases indicate such marriages sooner or later that of the integration perspective, which seems turned out to be against women’s consent— so dominant in Europe today. which then would have led to their explicit wish for divorce as soon as asylum seemed to be in reach. Th ese instances should not be taken Conclusion lightly. Aft er all, their occurrence would not be surprising among young and middle-aged Anthropologists’ experience in ROR-n across couples with a somewhat stronger-than-average all its moments of encouragement and failure, connection to traditional Sunni family values of setbacks and advances, has helped in consol- from a Syrian context, as a fairly strong segment idating and elaborating independent research Refugee studies in Austria today | 99 during phases of changing public opinion. Th is As for the researcher, competence in Middle was achieved primarily by insisting on anthro- Eastern cultures, societies, politics, and lan- pological expertise and by high investments in guages besides knowledge of the fi eld of forced public outreach, backed by invaluable institu- migration is essential. Arabs, Iranians, or Af- tional support. In turn, this also has substanti- ghans in Europe, including refugees, oft en lived ated our preference for seeing refugee studies as complex lives before coming to Europe, which an interdisciplinary subfi eld that is closely in- nonexperts frequently completely eff ace or re- teracting and intersecting but not identical with duce to stereotypes, losing from sight essential migration and mobility studies. Some major data on the Middle Eastern–European encoun- conceptual and epistemological premises and ter. In this process, Middle Eastern voices are orientations may, in fact, necessarily remain muted, as the possibilities for understanding identical or close to convergence; others will and effi cacious policy are greatly hindered. Fi- not. In addition, the ethnography is of funda- nally, fi eldwork with refugees and vulnerable mental signifi cance. When it comes to small, persons requires sensibility, responsibility, and personal networks of lifeworlds, diff erences be- a very clear set of rules to avoid causing phys- come quite relevant as to whether you have any ical or psychological harm. Still, plenty of re- chance of obtaining asylum and whether violent search institutes in Europe have no experience persecution, or the threat thereof, has trau- in researching refugees and/or the Middle East, matized you and your family members, which researching Middle Eastern refugees on this brings us to our main conclusion and proposed continent (including research on unaccompa- research horizon. nied minors), or even sending untrained under- Integration is indeed an important topic, but graduate students to learn research methods by research on the integration of Arabs in Europe, surveying or carrying out participant observa- for example, must necessarily question what tion among this vulnerable group. integration is, who is mobilizing this idea, and Th us, we propose to counter the limitations how this mobilization is aff ecting the structure of the integration perspective and the pitfalls of of the situation analyzed, rather than providing unprofessional research in our fi eld by shift ing a judgment about whether Iraqis, for example, our perspective to avoid predetermining the re- can become dutiful Hungarians. Hence, inte- sults of our research by framing the interaction gration measures and political and media dis- between forced migrants and Europe through courses on integration are not isolated features; the lenses of the nation-state, governance, pol- it is the social phenomena they produce and icy, or even aid or solidarity. We would like to within which they emerge that are of interest. suggest it is possible to coalesce many other Integration is thus not any analytical category central research questions, which we will soon in its own right but a notion primarily defi ned present, and avoid most, if not all, pitfalls of by power relations and contexts of purpose. the research on integration, into only one re- Furthermore, research must be carried out by search perspective we simply call, to avoid un- specialists in regional and language expertise necessarily coining a new term, “the encounter” and in refugee matters, rather than merely in perspective. Europe and migration. Moreover, the question Th e encounter, in our example, between Mid- of Middle Eastern refugees in Europe should dle Eastern (refugees or not) and the European not be framed as a religious question, especially contexts, neither eff aces the subjects’ history if involving the necessity to “tame” and or the symbolic and empirical life connections Muslims so they can adapt or, as they say, “in- between Europe and the Middle East, nor ulti- tegrate” into Europe, but also not if establishing mately narrows research questions and results an a priori incommensurable religious divide to answer if or how Middle Easterners can par- that must be bridged. ticipate in European society, live under the rule 100 | Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich of law in this region, or ultimately even become text, in turn, relates to this engagement; culturally Europeans. Instead, it aims to create a and, concomitantly, how this particular broad understanding of representations, social sociohistorical context has infl uenced interactions, social organization, and world- and shaped the lives of forced migrants views as they actually are, prior to preconceived living there or not; notions that generate blind spots concerning (b) aiming to create a broad understanding the structure of the encounter. To use a medical of representations, social interactions, metaphor, this perspective would be equivalent social organization, and worldviews as to producing a general diagnosis before defi n- they actually are, as opposed to how they ing the terms of an intervention. It has great ideally would be; this, in turn, should potential to contribute to Middle East diaspora lead to a more comprehensive under- studies (as opposed to community studies, for standing of the way forced migrant example), the anthropology of (im)mobility, communities have been engaging and and the nexus between migration and forced infl uencing social and political transfor- migration studies, as it generates a nuanced and mations in Europe and beyond; comprehensive panorama of the social situation (c) how the experience of dislocation, caused that can also be used to discuss broad sociologi- by forced displacement so prominent in cal and anthropological questions about the na- the refugees’ general experiences, should ture of social interactions, identity, belonging, lead us to contrast geographical mobility organization, and other social scientifi c topics. with the experience of immobility, and Besides asking ourselves what integration how this contrast may also be useful to is by placing the term itself in perspective, we explore other experiences of migration should also keep in mind that there are other beyond that of fl ight and refuge—that structural questions, at least equally pressing, is, anthropologists have long noticed we should be discussing. In other words, it is, the distinction between migration and for example, necessary to study the eff ects of the forced migration is oft en largely arbi- humanitarian intervention on Middle Eastern trary, as migrants also oft en feel forced to refugees, but it is also necessary to understand move, if not for fear of persecution and this very meeting beyond the frame of the hu- death then for social obligations, per- manitarian discourse to draw a more inclusive sonal constrains and structural violence, picture of the social situation analyzed, and and/or poverty (see, e.g., Kohlbacher even to be able to anthropologically compre- and Schiocchet 2017); hend the humanitarian intervention itself. We (d) the contemporary contextual situation believe this is not new to most anthropologists, of diff erent regions and populations even though many of us have actually continu- producing sizable numbers of forced mi- ously addressed “integration” without even put- grants, and how communities there (lin- ting this concept into perspective. So, instead of guistic, ethnic, religious, national, etc.) determining if Iranians can become British, if have been formed, transformed, and Iraqis are too extremist or religious fundamen- maintained as an eff ect of war, violence, talist for , or if Afghans can live under the and/or displacement; rule of law in Austria, the encounter perspective (e) analyzing the fl ux of worldviews, social focuses on, for instance: practices, and peoples negotiated by transnational forced migrant networks (a) forced migrant communities in a given encompassing Europe while determin- European setting mobilizing concep- ing their relative scope, place, and rep- tions, values, and social practices to en- resentativeness within the European, gage with the context and how this con- original, and global scenarios—that is, Refugee studies in Austria today | 101

to understand how Europe is embed- Network. Previously, she worked on the Middle ded in such fl ux dynamics; in doing so, East with a special focus on youth and issues of research focusing on this topic would belonging and diff erentiation in Lebanon and consider social belonging processes and . Her current research focus is on the sit- forms of social organization equally in uation of Middle Easterners mainly from , Europe and abroad. , and Egypt in Austria and beyond. Her interests are political and social dynamics, ref- Th is list is by no means exhaustive, but it il- ugee studies, and coping practices with uncer- lustrates key possibilities beyond the straitjacket tainty. Her latest publication is “Volunteering of the integration perspective. Our intention among Refugees in Vienna and Bavaria as an here is to invite those interested in committing Ethnographic Encounter,” Anthropology of the to this research perspective to a much broader Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia and more meaningful debate about the com- (2018). plexity of the present chapter of encounters be- Email: [email protected] tween forced migrants and Europe, and similar such encounters beyond the limits of this con- Maria Six-Hohenbalken is Deputy Director tinent. Th is list also shows that anthropologists of the Institute for Social Anthropology at the are well advised to move even more closely into Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Lecturer in engaging with the challenges of real life without the Department for Social and Cultural Anthro- subordinating everything to contested theoreti- pology at the . Her fi elds of cal priorities, let alone to ideological premises. interest are political violence, migration, refuge, Most of us, especially those of us sharing rele- memory studies, transnationalism and diaspora vant family backgrounds ourselves, know from studies, and historical anthropology. She coed- the outset that stories of refugees and of mi- ited Memory and Genocide: On What Remains grants are interrelated but not identical. and the Possibility of Representation (2017) with Fazil Moradi and Ralph Buchenhorst. Her lat- est publication is “May I Be a Sacrifi ce for My Leonardo Schiocchet has a PhD in anthropol- Grandchildren: Transgenerational Transmis- ogy (Boston University, 2011). He is Researcher sion and Women’s Narratives of the Yezidi Fer- at the Institute for Social Anthropology of the man,” Dialectical Anthropology (2018). Austrian Academy of Sciences, Principal Inves- Email: [email protected] tigator of the Austro-Arab Encounter project (2018–2022) funded by Austrian Science Fund, Andre Gingrich is Founding Director of the In- and Editor of the Refugee Outreach & Research stitute for Social Anthropology at the Austrian Network blog. Since 2006, his work has focused Academy of Science, and a retired full professor on the anthropology of the Middle East, with in the Department of Social and Cultural An- particular attention to processes of social be- thropology at the University of Vienna. He is a longing and subjecthood among Arab refugees board member of several academic journals and in the Middle East, America, and Europe. a member of many distinguished academic so- Within this focus, his work has covered themes cieties such as the Royal Swedish Academy of such as dynamics of suspicion and trust, ritual- Sciences. He has engaged in fi eldwork in Syria, ization, and homemaking processes. , , Qatar, and Austria, and Email: [email protected] served as the principal investigator of several long-term grant projects. His most recent publi- Sabine Bauer-Amin is a social anthropologist cations include Small Countries: Structures and and Postdoctoral Researcher at ISA, as well as Sensitivities (coedited with Ulf Hannerz, 2017). a member of the Refugee Outreach & Research Email: [email protected] 102 | Leonardo Schiocchet, Sabine Bauer-Amin, Maria Six-Hohenbalken, and Andre Gingrich

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