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  3. Dying Abroad
  • Cited by 13
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      30 March 2023
      06 April 2023
      ISBN:
      9781009288569
      9781009288583
      9781009288606
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009288569
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.51kg, 254 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.373kg, 253 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Social and Cultural Anthropology, International Relations and International Organisations, Anthropology, Sociology
      Series:
      LSE International Studies
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    Subjects:
    Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Social and Cultural Anthropology, International Relations and International Organisations, Anthropology, Sociology
    Series:
    LSE International Studies
    Information

    Book description

    On any given day, the remains of countless deceased migrants are shipped around the world to be buried in ancestral soils. Others are laid to rest in countries of settlement, sometimes in cemeteries established for religious and ethnic minorities, where available. For immigrants and their descendants, perennial questions about the meaning of home and homeland take on a particular gravitas in death. When the boundaries of a nation and its members are contested, burial decisions are political acts. Building on multi-sited fieldwork in Berlin and Istanbul – where the author worked as an undertaker – Dying Abroad offers a moving and powerful account of migrants' end-of-life dilemmas, vividly illustrating how they are connected to ongoing political struggles over the stakes of citizenship, belonging, and collective identity in contemporary Europe.

    Awards

    Honorable Mention, 2024 Alixa Naff Prize, Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

    Winner, 2024 Charles Taylor Award, American Political Science Association

    Winner, 2024 Yale Ferguson Award, International Studies Association

    Winner, 2025 ENMISA Distinguished Book Award, International Studies Association

    Reviews

    ‘Meticulously researched and heartbreakingly told, Balkan's analysis of ‘death out of place' for Muslims of Turkish and Kurdish descent in Germany is original, important, and unforgettable.'

    Neda Maghbouleh - University of Toronto Mississauga

    ‘What happens to those who die ‘out of place'? Dying Abroad is a remarkable, eloquent and extensively researched study in which Balkan demonstrates that death, dying, and posthumous acts of burial, bereavement, repatriation, and memorialization are contested processes for migrant Muslim communities in Europe, and constitute complex negotiations of social, political, religious, and cultural membership and belonging.'

    Lisa Lowe - Yale University

    ‘Dying Abroad is an exciting read! With his precise, eloquent language and observations, Osman Balkan gives us an insightful and personal account of ‘death out of place'. His book provides an important window into contemporary social and political orders and the role that end-of-life practices play in the negotiation of manifold boundaries in transnational lives.'

    Finn Stepputat - Danish Institute for International Studies

    ‘… a richly informative book that makes clear contributions to the study of multiculturalism, transnationalism, and citizenship. Though Balkan focuses on Muslims of Turkish and Kurdish descent in Germany, the same challenges and questions around end-of-life practices should resonate with minoritized populations everywhere … The book’s narrative style and fascinating content make the book accessible to scholarly and non-scholarly audiences, and I recommend the book for classroom adoption in undergraduate and graduate courses on migration, citizenship, race and ethnicity, biopolitics, or European politics … Additionally, the book demonstrates the artistry involved in converting a dissertation into an accessible and engaging book manuscript and provides an excellent example of how to persuasively and elegantly incorporate ethnographic fieldwork.’

    Aubrey Westfall Source: Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics

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