Elena Höpfner: Hopes and Protections on the Run – Refugees and Things: A Grounded Theory and Material Culture Approach

What do people take with them when they run for their lives? What meanings do these things have for the refugees and what role(s) do they play on the way? And what can possessions tell us about the phenomenon of flight?

In her lecture, sociologist Elena Höpfner tells us about her field research in a Berlin refugee shelter in 2015.

With the help of interview excerpts on specific objects (things) mentioned she is going to show us the extent to which objects are keys to narratives, but also anchors that link individual flight stories and conditions, life in the country of origin and expectations of the destination country. However, objects are not important for all people and so the methodological approach must always remain open in the sense of change: from the object back to the subject. Under the conditions in a shelter and the uncertainty of staying and getting asylum, talking about objects can be seen as a triviality and people may not feel taken seriously in their difficult situation.

Elena Höpfner, M.A., is a German sociologist, who has worked as a teaching assistant at Free University Berlin 2019-2020 and currently works as a PhD candidate at University of Erlangen. Höpfner is also a junior researcher at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg (Germany) since 2020. In 2018, she received the Young Talent Award of the German Sociological Association (DGS) for her master’s thesis Menschen auf der Flucht und die Bedeutung ihrer Dinge: Eine gegenstandsbezogene Theoriebildung im doppelten Sinne (Refugees and Things: A Grounded Theory and Material Culture Approach). She is currently working on job seeking and labour market availability of young single mothers on basic income support.