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Anthropologist Dr. Tara Deubel from the University of Florida will talk about her new work on sub-Saharan migrant experiences in southern Morocco.
"Forced immobility: sub-Saharan migrant experiences in southern Morocco"
While significant attention has focused on sub-Saharan Africans attempting to reach Europe, there are few ethnographic studies of the increasing number of sub-Saharans now settling in Morocco for extended periods of time. I will present initial findings from the first year of a team ethnographic study of migrants originating from West and Central Africa and currently living in the Souss region of southern Morocco. Migrants describe the physical and psychological burdens of their liminal existence as they negotiate the process of integration and evaluate the risks and benefits of staying in Morocco, attempting to continue north to Europe, or returning south. In their efforts to acquire legal status, develop social relationships with Moroccans, find work, and access education, health, and social services, sub-Saharans in the Souss struggle to maintain their dignity and sense of self.
Tara F. Deubel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. Her work focuses on anthropology of development (gender, food and livelihood security, microfinance), political economy, human rights, women’s status, political and legal anthropology, migration and refugees, race and ethnicity, language and performance, social memory, cultural heritage conservation, visual anthropology, birth and infant feeding, North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Sahara), West Africa (Mali, Mauritania, Niger), US.