Belonging in Motion: Questioning Certainties

28.10.2021 18:00 - 20:00

Mobility Lecture #8 with Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka

 

 

The lecture "Belonging in motion: questioning certainties" starts with a short review of the theory of belonging. It then considers how this theory helps us to grasp current identity struggles that take place in the academic realm ('Rhodes must fall'), in different fields of cultural production (translating Amanda Gorman), and in the media. It is argued that contemporary 'immigration societies' are in a process of transition, experiencing the influx of 'newcomers', not only into subordinate positions, but also into middle-class social spaces that are still dominated by a conventional 'mainstream'. Yet, the power of definition is increasingly challenged by 'newcomers' with diverse markers of difference – such as women, people of foreign ethno-national background, or persons whose orientations challenge the societal mainstream. The current battles are not just about identity and belonging but also about becoming.

Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka is professor in social anthropology at the Bielefeld University (Faculty of Sociology). She conducts research the Himalayan and in the South Asian region, in the middle-European immigration societies as well as within the social spaces of universities. Her contributions to the theory of belonging currently focus on the nexus of inequality, heterogeneity and power. Her newest project in the framework of the 'Shaping Asia'-program enquires into the knowledge production and circulation in Asia’s decolonising constellations.

 

Der Vortrag findet in Präsenz und über Zoom statt. Um Anmeldung für Präsenz-Teilnahme (max. 25 Teilnehmer*innen) wird gebeten: jana.donat@univie.ac.at. Die Veranstaltung findet unter Einhaltung der 2,5G-Regel statt. Der Zoom-Link wird am Tag des Vortrags hier geteilt. 

Der Vortrag wird ebenfalls aufgezeichnet und später auf dem Youtube-Kanal der Forschungsplattform veröffentlicht.


Organiser:
Forschungsplattform Mobile Kulturen und Gesellschaften
Location:
Seminarraum 1, Institut für Afrikawissenschaften