Hauntologies
The Fire These Times
102/ On the Need to Shape the Arab Exile Body w/ Amro Ali
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102/ On the Need to Shape the Arab Exile Body w/ Amro Ali

This is a conversation with Amro Ali, author of the essay "On the Need to Shape the Arab Exile Body in Berlin." He is also co-president of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities, research fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin, and lecturer in sociology at the American University in Cairo (AUC).

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What we talked about:

  • Moving from the centers to the peripheries

  • Why Berlin? And not London, Paris, New York or Istanbul

  • Berlin as an incomplete city and Germany's past

  • Germany and the Arabs

  • The Koblenz trial, accountability in Germany (but not in the Arab world)

  • January 25 and the legacy of the Arab Spring for the exile body

  • Home as the place where all attempts to escape cease

  • Valuing public spaces

  • Survivor's guilt and impostor's syndrome

  • Challenges faced by Arabs and other non-white people in Berlin

  • Meeting other Arabs for the first time in Europe

  • The need for a connection between Berlin and other capitals, such as Beirut or Tunis

  • Politics of language and the use of Arabic in the diaspora

Recommended Books:

  • City of Exiles: Berlin from the outside in by Stuart Braun

  • Representations of the Intellectual by Edward W. Said

  • Exile, Statelessness, and Migration: Playing Chess with History from Hannah Arendt to Isaiah Berlin by Seyla Benhabib

Resources Mentioned:

  • The Der Spiegel article: https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/witness-defendant-deserter-case-in-germany-raises-questions-about-how-to-try-assad-s-atrocities-a-43d2817e-d85b-4378-b158-0c5001c345eb

  • Branch 251 Podcast

Previous episodes mentioned:

Discussion about this podcast

Hauntologies
The Fire These Times
A podcast project working to uplift internationalist dialogues on human rights, climate change, and visions of bold futures. Our unique editorial team are deeply committed to weaving together radical perspectives from the periphery. By Elia Ayoub, Leila Al-Shami, Ayman Makarem, Dana El Kurd, Karena Avedissian, Daniel Voskoboynik, Anna M, Aydın Yıldız, Ed S, Alice Bonfatti & Israa Abdel Fattah.
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