Archives of Solidarity
Archives of Solidarity is an AHRC-funded project that unites an interdisciplinary team of researchers, practitioners, and community partners to examine evolving practices of solidarity in border regions, with a particular focus on youth. By blending ethnographic research, oral histories, creative practice, and digital archiving, the project aims to create a dynamic digital archive dedicated to the practice of solidarity, shedding new light on the lived experiences of young refugees, citizens, and activists working in the field of migration and fostering deeper understanding and cross-cultural dialogue. By developing accessible tools and platforms, the project aims to bring these insights to both academic communities and the broader public, inspiring further engagement and reflection on solidarity practices.
Team
Zerrin Özlem Biner is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, SOAS University of London. Her work focuses on themes of state, citizenship, political violence, forced displacement and return, memory, and diasporic communities. She is currently the principle investigator of the AHRC funded Archives of Solidarity project. Zerrin Özlem Biner is also the Co-Director of the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies at SOAS.
Leyla Neyzi, an anthropologist and oral historian, is retired Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sabanci University, İstanbul. Currently, she is Lecturer at Glasgow University. She has conducted internationally funded research projects and published articles, books and edited books on oral history, memory studies, nationalism and minorities, and youth culture in Turkey.
Sabine Strasser is social anthropologist at the University of Bern. Her research
projects and publications focus on migration, mobility, transnational studies and
humanitarian borders with a particular interest in Turkey, Austria and Europe. Her
most recent publications deal with crises talk and affective economies of in/voluntary return.
projects and publications focus on migration, mobility, transnational studies and
humanitarian borders with a particular interest in Turkey, Austria and Europe. Her
most recent publications deal with crises talk and affective economies of in/voluntary return.
Tom Parkinson is an educational sociologist working across the fields of higher
education, community development and music. Since 2017 his work has focused on participatory action research with displaced communities in northwest Syria and
Türkiye. He is Reader in the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Kent.
education, community development and music. Since 2017 his work has focused on participatory action research with displaced communities in northwest Syria and
Türkiye. He is Reader in the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Kent.
David Herd is a poet, critic and co-organiser of the project Refugee Tales. His critical history, Writing Against Expulsion in the Post-War World (OUP, 2023) has been shortlisted for the 2024 MSA Book Prize. Walk Song (Shearsman, 2022), was a Book of the Year in the Australian Review of Books. He teaches at the University of St Andrews where he is Berry Chair of Literature and Human Rights.
Özge Biner is a researcher at the Collège de France. She received her PhD in
Sociology from Strasbourg University. Her research engages with the political, legal and social effects of the experience of exile in the border zones of Europe and the Middle East. Since 2015, she has been conducting ethnographic research on the Turkish-Syrian border focusing on the experience of forced displacement and forced return in the context of Syrian war.
Sociology from Strasbourg University. Her research engages with the political, legal and social effects of the experience of exile in the border zones of Europe and the Middle East. Since 2015, she has been conducting ethnographic research on the Turkish-Syrian border focusing on the experience of forced displacement and forced return in the context of Syrian war.
Kemal Vural Tarlan has been conducting visual sociology and anthropology research among Dom/Gypsies communities living in the Middle East since 2000. His studies, articles and photos were featured in numerous international symposia, congresses, exhibitions and other events. He has written penned articles on the rights of refugees from the Middle East and worked as an activist. He is a member of the International Federation of Journalists and is a member of the European Sociological Association.
Müjge Küçükkeleş is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, and a research associate at the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies at SOAS University of London. Her research examines the politics of humanitarianism and international development, exploring its intersections with the state, nationalism and citizenship in politically liminal spaces in the Middle East, with a specific focus on Iraqi Kurdistan. More recently, her work is shifting towards investigating non-Western forms of humanitarianism and solidarity activism in the Global South, particularly within Turkey.
Hande Çayır is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS University of London. She holds a PhD in Film and TV Studies from the University of Warwick. Her research examines representations of madness by centring survivor agency and rethinking participatory film practices. She is the author of Documentary as Autoethnography (Vernon Press, 2020), a recipient of the Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence and an Honourable Mention from BAFTSS, as well as an editor for Disability & Society. Her films have been screened internationally.
Amir Massoumian is a social anthropologist and post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS University of London, whose main research interests include politics, ethics, gender, and far-right epistemologies.
Emma Efkeman is a Project Coordinator at SOAS, University of London. Since 2019, she has worked in international project management related to culture, heritage, and the arts. She holds an MA in History of Art and Archaeology (SOAS).
Kinem Hazal Tanyeri is the Communication, Media and Arts & Culture Programme Coordinator at Kırkayak Kültür based in Gaziantep. Since 2018, she has been producing news stories for various media outlets on rights-based journalism, migration, sports, and gender issues. She holds an international press card and continues to work as a freelance journalist.
