Episode 4: Looking away from Europe

What if we for a change did not focus on Europe as the center of attention? What comes after Europe, what kinds of other geographical powers affect global flows of movement? Researcher Samuli Schielke’s work in Egypt brings new perspectives to thinking about Europe. We discuss Eurocentrism, people’s hopes and dreams of a better life and the limits of economic growth and natural resources.

Listen to the episode on: Spotify, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Radio Public.

 

 

An accessible transcript of the entire interview can be found here:

 

Episode summary:

In this episode we have a special guest, researcher and anthropologist Samuli Schielke from Berlin. Together with Schielke we turn our gaze away from Europe and think about alternative global focal points. Schielke is currently working at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, focusing on migration and work, love and marriage, moral and political conflicts and ambiguities and the way humans relate with God and destiny.

 

References in the episode:

Samuli Schielke: Migrant Dreams: Egyptian Workers in the Gulf States

George Orwell: Down and Out in Paris and London

Deepak Unnikrishnan: Temporary People

 

Contributors:

Samuli Schielke

Samuli Schielke is a Finnish anthropologist working mainly in contemporary Egypt. He currently works as a researcher at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin, Germany, focusing on motivations and consequences of literary writing in Alexandria and normal life as a utopian striving. He is the author of Migrant Dreams: Egyptian Workers in the Gulf States, published earlier in 2020.

 

Bea Bergholm

Bea Bergholm is the host of the podcast. She has a Master's Degree in Social Sciences (social and cultural anthropology) and works as a project planner at the Centre of Excellence in Law, Identity and the European Narratives. She is interested in human rights issues, environmental justice and sustainable development.

 

Paolo Amorosa

Dr. Paolo Amorosa the host of the EuroStorie podcast. He is a post-doctoral researcher in subproject 1, Law and the Uses of the Past. He has a background in international law, law and religion, and legal theory. His research deals primarily with the history of international law and human rights in the twentieth century.

 

Credits:

Episode no: 4

Release date: 18 September 2020

Recording: ArtLab Helsinki

Audio elements: Antonio Lopez Garcia

Banner photo: Unsplash/Jakob Braun

Text: Bea Bergholm

Banner: Tuomas Heikkilä