The imagined and the real: Hadrami mobilities in the western Indian Ocean

Hadramawt, in southeastern Yemen, has been a point of departure of emigrants for centuries: many have left for economic reasons, but religious proselytisation has also been a motivation. As a result, there are individuals and communities of Hadrami origin from Central Africa to Indonesia who, to varying degrees, maintain relationships with one another: with the homeland and with different destinations in the diaspora. This seminar focuses on the histories and contemporary strategies of Hadramis as they move through sites in East Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

Dr. Iain Walker is a senior researcher at the Centre for Migration, Policy and Security at Oxford University. He has worked on identity and ethnicity, expanding to include migration, mobility, globalisation and notions of home and belonging, as well as age systems.  His focus has been on the migrant population in the island communities of the Western Indian Ocean, including the Comoro Islands, Mauritius and Zanzibar.