Events

Abstract: The so-called Mhallamiyye, known in the public discussion as “Arab clans” (German: Arabische Clans) or “extended families” (German: Arabische Großfamilien), settled in different German urban centres such as Berlin, Ruhr area, and Bremen in the 1980s. Recently, they have been subjected to a high level of government and media scrutiny and accused of establishing a “mafia” based on their family structure and networks. In my presentation, which is based on findings from over 6 years (2015 to 2021) of ethnographic fieldwork in Germany, I will address the impact of family, social, economic and religious networks on the emergence of so called “criminal clans” in Germany. By using participant observation and in-depth interview data, my primary objective is to explain how, and under what conditions, have “clan crimes” emerged and been constructed in Germany. 

The Extra-Legal Governance Seminar Series is convened by Federico Varese and Zora Hauser. For more information about this or any of the seminars in the series, please contact federico.varese@nuffield.ox.ac.uk and zora.hauser@sant.ox.ac.uk