„I have a dream“ – Migrants in the spiderweb of dreams about better life

Migration and mobility is and always was connected with imagination of better future, better life. The anthropologist of migrant’s dreams Samuli Schielke dedicates his research to these imageries and different ways of dreaming about better life. Samuli will present his research and upcoming book Migrants Dreams. The book follows Egyptian workers in the Gulf States and their journeys back home (and then back to work abroad). His ethnography tells the story of a society where migration to metropolitan centres dominates both „conservative dreams“ about material, stable and secure life as well as imageries that reach far beyond this obvious idea of a good life. Our economy is not based on rational decisions and our imagination about better future is not always free and unlimited, he argues.

Samuli Schielke is a social anthropologist, filmmaker and photographer. He was born in Finland, lives and works in Germany and the Middle East, he’s a research fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin. His research revolves around the dreams and hopes of migrants in Egypt and Gulf States, about construction of future lives and how religious, moral and aspirational lives intersect. He’s the author of, among other works, „Perils of Joy“ and „Egypt in Future Tense.“

www.samuli-schielke.de

The event will be held online on Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87025583716
Meeting ID: 870 2558 3716

The event is organized by Marie Heřmanová (Institute of Sociology) and Michal Pavlásek (Institute of Ethnology) with the support of the programme Strategy AV21 – Society in motion and public policy.