Ethnologia Europaea

DATING SECRETLY

In Addis Ababa one can see dozens of Somali families waiting daily in front of the Embassy of Finland to be interviewed. The interview represents a means of entering Finland, since those waiting presumably have a so-called family re-unifier in Finland, a relative who has of ten already received a residence permit and sometimes even citizenship. This article examines the family reunification process of Somalis who travel from Ethiopia to Finland. Drawing on the experiences related by Finnish immigration officials, it focuses on the fact that they do not share the same definition of “family” as the Somali asylum applicants. Using extensive inter views and observations, this article aims to elucidate the complex cultural understandings involved in the Somalis’ process of immigration to Finland.

Based on inter views with young persons in two national Muslim youth organizations in Europe, this article examines how young Muslims negotiate between the cultural customs of their societies of origin, their everyday experiences in Europe, and the global Muslim public sphere. In seeking a universal “true” core of Islam, these young persons create their own version of Islam, a “fourth space” in which they reinterpret the authoritative source texts of Islam in light of personal diasporic experiences in Europe. This reinterpretation becomes particularly pertinent in the context of planning for future marriage, where they joint ly construct new understandings of Islam to argue for inter-ethnic marriages and later age at marriage, to argue against coercion in arranged marriages, to oppose polyg yny and to portray the stigmatization of divorce as counter to the true spirit of Islam.

This article analyses changing family structures in Morocco by examining four households within one family’s residential compound. Despite its location in a rural setting, this compound is not the main site of economic production for these domestic units, meaning that other principles operate in the distribution and use of land. To analyse households within this property allows us to capture how marriage strategies and women’s position inside the family change through generations. Taking into account both the tradition of the extended family organized along agnatic descent lines and recent changes, which have made conjugal households desirable, this paper explores whether the seemingly conflicting values associated with traditional extended households and current opportunities for personal social mobility can be harmoniously integrated by families.

Transactional sex has been recognized as a major factor in the persistence of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet it also has implications for the persistence of poverty. Using interview data collected between 2010 and 2015, this article examines how Muslim families in Dar es Salaam are affected by transactional sexual behavior.1 Examined are motives for transactional sex, how poor families view the purpose of marriage, and religious teachings and cultural beliefs about the onset of adulthood. Familial strategies to ensure provision for daughters and to improve the family’s socio-economic situation are impeded by the fact that in a context of high unemploy ment, transactional sex of ten represents the only path to female economic self-sufficiency, which of ten results inthe family being encumbered with the financial burden of unwanted pregnancies

MEMORY, HERITAGE AND ETHNICITY

In January 2014, residents and activists in Hamburg protested against the declaration of a so-called danger zone (Gefahrengebiet). The police created the zone after violent attacks on police stations had taken place. Inside this danger zone, the police were authorized to search and restrict the mobility of pedestrians. The protest attracted a high level of media coverage due to its creativity. My article discusses a form of protest, which activists and residents invented during the ongoing protest called “Danger Zone – The Real Life Game.” By utilizing playful practices, as well as narratives, activists contested the measures of the police throughout the protest and also, therefore, its interpretation by the media and by the police. Furthermore, they managed to link online to offline practices.