1. SEEING THE CITY ANEW:
SUDANESE PERSPECTIVES OF
ATHENS, GREECE
SANDER VAN LANEN & VICTORIA ELAHI 2013

2. “…UNHCR was created to
keep refugees OUT of
Europe…”

3. Presentation Outline
• Research Strategy
• Hypothesis
• Methodological
Reflections
• Emerging Themes
• Directions for Future
Research
(Central Athens, Greece)

4. Research Strategy
• Everyday Experiences of Migrants
• Views of Migrant Communities
• Relationships with the city, with home,
with others
• Ethnographic Perspective

5. Questions / Hypothesis
 Social networks
 Community solidarity
 Barriers towards integration

6. Methodological
Reflections
 Time & Limited Sample
 Practical Issues
 Access & Trust
 Preconceived Ideas
 Visual Opportunities

7. Emerging Themes
-‘Unmarking’ oneself as a stranger and adoption
of a new, workable identity (Stigma of
refugee/migrant label);
-Networks (intra-nationality, local, national,
transnational);
-Possibility vs. Desirability of Return

8. Directions for
Future Research
Embedded ethnography of
Sudanese community in Athens
Comparative study of different
communities and/or different
cities
Occupation of Urban Space
Visual Ethnography
Women
(Poster at tea shop, Omonia)

9. ‘We can never be Greek; we are African’

10. Thank You!