Dr. Tabea Scharrer

Tabea Scharrer is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Socio-Cultural Diversity. Tabea is a social anthropologist working on migration, socio-economic inequality and religion. She is Habilitandin at the University of Bayreuth and Associate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Tabea has conducted research in refugee camps in Tanzania, about Islamic missionary movements in East Africa and with Somali migrants in Kenyan urban areas and in several European cities. Her publications include the monograph 'Narrative islamischer Konversion: Biographische Erzählungen konvertierter Muslime in Ostafrika' (transcript, 2013) and two co-edited volumes on 'Middle Classes in Africa' (Palgrave, 2018) and on 'Mobile Urbanity. Somali Urban Presence in East Africa' (Berghahn, 2019). In addition, she co-edited the first German-language handbook on forced migration research ('Handbuch Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung', Nomos, 2023). She is member of the editorial board of Comparative Migration Studies. At the MPI in Göttingen, she is working on her second monograph based on the material of her previous research with Somali migrants in Kenya and Germany. In it she analyses the relationship between class and migration, i.e. between social and spatial mobility.

Publications

Books and Edited Volumes

Scharrer, T., Glorius, B., Kleist, O., & Berlinghoff, M. (Eds.). (2023). Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium. Baden-Baden: Nomos. doi:10.5771/9783748921905

Carrier, N. C. M., & Scharrer, T. (Eds.). (2019). Mobile urbanity: Somali presence in urban East Africa. New York; Oxford: Berghahn.

Kroeker, L., O'Kane, D., & Scharrer, T. (Eds.). (2018). Middle classes in Africa: changing lives and conceptual challenges. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-62148-7

Scharrer, T. (2013). Narrative islamischer Konversion: biographische Erzählungen konvertierter Muslime in Ostafrika. Bielefeld: transcript.

Special issues, Editor

Yanasmayan, Z., Suerbaum, M., & Scharrer, T. (Eds.). (2022). Spatial and social im/mobility in forced migration: revisiting class [Special Issue]. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(20).

Co-editor/Editorial Board

Editorial Board Member of Comparative Migration Studies (CMS):
https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/

Articles in Books and Journals

Scharrer, T. (2023). Of Mukhalas and Magafe: Somali Migrants Navigating the Dangers of Ransom Smuggling in Northern Africa. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 709(1), 86-104. doi:10.1177/00027162241246664

Scharrer, T., Becker, J., Bromber, K., Chavoshian, S., Moradi, A., Ferrand, A., Ismailbekova, A., Mahazi, J., & Schielke, S. (2023). Silence, secrecy, ignorance, and the making of class and status across generations. ZMO Programmatic Texts 15. https://repositorium.zmo.de/receive/zmo_mods_00000513

Lems, A., & Scharrer, T. (2023). Ethnologie. In T. Scharrer, B. Glorius, J. O. Kleist, & M. Berlinghoff (Eds.), Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium (pp. 77-86). Baden-Baden: Nomos. doi:10.5771/9783748921905-77

Scharrer, T., Glorius, B., Kleist, J. O., & Berlinghoff, M. (2023). Editorial. In T. Scharrer (Ed.), Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium (pp. 21-28). Baden-Baden: Nomos. doi:10.5771/9783748921905-21

Scharrer, T., & Saharso, S. (2023). Beyond 'race'? A rejoinder. Comparative Migration Studies, 11: 11. doi:10.1186/s40878-023-00330-7

Scharrer, T., & Suerbaum, M. (2022). Negotiating class positions in proximate places of refuge: Syrians in Egypt and Somalians in Kenya. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(20), 4847-4864. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2022.2123432

Hunkler, C., Scharrer, T., Suerbaum, M., & Yanasmayan, Z. (2022). Spatial and social im/mobility in forced migration: revisiting class. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(20), 4829-4846. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2022.2123431

Scharrer, T. (2022). Creating an atmosphere of intellectual superiority: islamic missionary work in Kenya as staged competition in a climate of religious diversity. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 37(2), 203-222. doi:10.1080/13537903.2022.2073029

Scharrer, T. (2020). „It is better to do business in Africa than in Europe”: socio-economic positionings among business-minded European Somalis moving to Kenya. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 18(3), 270-285. doi:10.1080/15562948.2020.1773009

Hoehne, M. V., & Scharrer, T. (2023). Balancing inclusion and exclusion among Somali migrants in Germany. International Migration, 61(3), 87-101. doi:10.1111/imig.12856

Scharrer, T., & Saharso, S. (2022). Beyond race? Comparative Migration Studies, 10: 4. doi:10.1186/s40878-021-00272-y

Scharrer, T., Seidel, K., & Hoehne, M. V. (2022). Somalia und Südsudan: Demokratieexport in der Sackgasse. Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, 67(4), 29-32.

Scharrer, T. (2019). Reinventing retail: 'Somali' shopping centres in Kenya. In N. Carrier, & T. Scharrer (Eds.), Mobile urbanity: Somali presence in urban East Africa (pp. 157-178). New York; Oxford: Berghahn.

Scharrer, T., & Carrier, N. (2019). Introduction: mobile urbanity; Somali presence in urban East Africa. In N. Carrier, & T. Scharrer (Eds.), Mobile urbanity: Somali presence in urban East Africa (pp. 3-25). New York; Oxford: Berghahn Books. Link to Article

Scharrer, T. (2019). 'Ethnic neighborhoods' and/or cosmopolitanism? The art of living together. In E. Wacker, U. Becker, & K. Crepaz (Eds.), Refugees and forced migrants in Africa and the EU: comparative and multidisciplinary perspectives on challenges and solutions (pp. 129-150). Wiesbaden: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-24538-2_7

Scharrer, T. (2018). “Ambiguous citizens”: Kenyan Somalis and the question of belonging. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 12(3), 494-513. doi:10.1080/17531055.2018.1483864

Scharrer, T., O'Kane, D., & Kroeker, L. (2018). Introduction: Africa’s middle classes in critical perspective. In L. Kroeker, D. O'Kane, & T. Scharrer (Eds.), Middle classes in Africa: changing lives and conceptual challenges (pp. 1-31). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-62148-7_1

O'Kane, D., & Scharrer, T. (2018). Anthropology and class in Africa: challenges of the past and present. In L. Kroeker, D. O'Kane, & T. Scharrer (Eds.), Middle classes in Africa: changing lives and conceptual challenges (pp. 81-105). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-62148-7_4

Scharrer, T. (2005). Conversion to Islam in East Africa - ideas and mediators. Orient Bulletin, 9, 2-3.

Scharrer, T. (2007). Religious practices: conversion; East Africa. In S. Joseph (Ed.), Encyclopedia of women and Islamic cultures: practices, interpretations and representations (pp. 288-290). Leiden: Brill.

Scharrer, T. (2007). Konversion in Ostafrika im Spannungsfeld zwischen islamischer und christlicher Mission. Historische Anthropologie, 15(1), 118-125. doi:10.7788/ha.2007.15.1.118

Scharrer, T. (2014). Unsere Somalis, fremde Somalis. Welt-Sichten, 5, 24-27. Link to Article

Scharrer, T. (2012). Zwischen Marginalisierung und Integration: somalische Flüchtlinge in Kenia. Inamo, 18(71), 31-34.

Other Publications

Hoehne, M. V., Scharrer, T., & Seidel, K. (2023). Misguided external engagements in Somalia and South Sudan: time to rethink political interventions. Tabea Scharrer: Social Anthropologist. Blog Link

Scharrer, T. (2021). GAA 2021 conference diary: atmospheric discussions? Allegra Laboratory. Blog Link