Lives in transit

Book: Lives in transit : an ethnographic study of refugees’ subjectivity across European borders by Elena Fontanari.
150 words in the Book reflection comments forLives in Transit: Intro and Ch. 3 AND
150 word in book reflection comments forLives in Transit: Intro and Ch. 4

An ideal post gives the general summary of the chapter and then engages with it in some way. You can raise questions about parts you did not understand, point to aspects that stood out to you, argue with the central questions of the chapter, or take it further to ask questions that follow from what you’ve read. Here is what a sample post might look like, drawing from an earlier reading: “The Wessendorf article looks at how people navigate diversity and particularly how they act differently in public, parochial and private realm. She introduces the idea of “conviviality” which is basically how people in diverse and densely populated spaces live side by side peacefully calmly, but without necessarily having deep intimate connections. This relates to diversity because people don’t have to really care about where their neighbors are from or even be interested in getting to know them and their culture to live in harmony with them. I wonder how in a time like the Coronavirus if these differences become more important or even less important. I could see how people would feel more solidarity with their neighbors because of the crisis—wanting to support their businesses or run errands for them. But I could also see how it might move from what she calls a “unpanicked multiculturalism” to a more panicked one as certain people get scapegoated for spreading the disease.”