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Paper short abstract:

This paper describes an ethnographic project with African im/migrant organizations in Germany, focusing on the relationship between Blackness, indigeneity, migration, and how methodologies inform and relate to our understandings of these concepts.

Paper long abstract:

The African presence in Germany has a long history, altered via (post+)colonial engagements on the African continent, and currently constituted of a diverse mix of peoples, from Afro-Germans with generational connections to the country to im/migrants from all over the African diaspora. Throughout this history, African diasporic peoples have established a wide variety of organizations, from religious and social to political and academic, with many forming solidarity movements to fight against racism and anti-Blackness in their German homes. Despite this rich history, there remains a lack of research into how these groups organize and strategically position themselves in the public sphere. This paper describes an ethnographic project with African im/migrant organizations in Germany which analyzes group experiences and their role in larger contexts. The analysis will look particularly at the way group identities are (re)made and (un)done; how organizations define and organize themselves in the intersections and overlaps between Blackness, African indigeneity, and the changing spatiotemporalities of German life. This approach connects legacies of racial-colonial domination to their ongoing influence on race and racialization processes using an analytical frame that combines Anthropology with Black Studies and Critical Indigenous Studies. The research was conducted using a combination of ethnographic observations and interviews, visual methods, and participatory approaches to community work. This presentation will provide further insights on African and Black diaspora experiences in Germany, as well as discuss methodological decision-making processes and innovations which can further more generative Anthropological scholarship.