Being-Here

Exploring the lifeworlds of Halima, Omar and Mohamed, three middle-aged Somalis living in Melbourne, Australia, the author discusses the interrelated meanings of emplacement and displacement as experienced in people's everyday lives. Through their experiences of displacement and placemaking, Being-Here examines the figure of the refugee as a metaphor for societal alienation and estrangement, and moves anthropological theory towards a new understanding of the crucial existential links between Sein (Being) and Da (Here).

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Greeting Xamar
PART I: THINKING WHAT WE ARE DOING
Chapter 1. Walkers of the Everyday
PART II: EMPLACEMENT
Chapter 2. Placing Somalia
Chapter 3. Living One-Eyed
Chapter 4. An Accidental Move
Chapter 5. Home-Building
Chapter 6. Homewards
PART III: DISPLACEMENT
Chapter 7. At Home in the Universe
Chapter 8. Gendered Dis/Emplacements
Chapter 9. Displaced Stories
Chapter 10. Placeless Dreams
Final Juncture: Concluding Words
Bibliography
Index