Norms & Marginality: Practices of Recognition as a Displaced Person

Project Researcher: Jessica Wehner, M. Ed.

The Osnabrück sub-project "Norms and Marginality: Practices of Recognition as a Displaced Person" looks at the transition and recognition processes of persons who were uprooted or exiled into the broad category of "displaced person" between 1946 - 1951. It considers the changing nature of categorizations and processes of negotiation. Against this background, not only "norm cases" resulting from the larger displaced person groups such as Holocaust survivors or forced laborers, but also "fringe cases" will be the focus of the project. The perspective on marginalized groups makes it possible to identify shifts in selection and recognition processes and thus to highlight processes of production and construction of marginalization. On the basis of the dimensions (a) gender, (b) class, (c) age and (d) race, selected groups of people, for example Muslim Displaced Persons, will be examined.