This presentation from Markus V. Hoehne, University of Leipzig will highlight a recent case of publicly engaged anthropology that emerged from long-term research in northern Somalia.

Presentation Description from Markus V. Hoehne
For many years, I have been researching conflict dynamics there, always trying to keep some middle ground between various conflict parties in the region. I found this analytical distance to be a necessary precondition for what I considered to be the main job of a researcher (following Max Weber): to contribute to a better understanding of social complexities. Yet, when the conflict I have been researching for over 20 years escalated violently in 2023, I found myself quickly on the activist side. I publicly engaged on social media, initially to provide historical background to the current events. Soon I used my contacts in the region to publish daily updates on the dynamics of the conflict on X. This engagement positioned me at a virtual frontline in a war that happened on the ground and in social media. I became an enemy for some, and I was treated accordingly on the virtual battlefield. Reflecting on this experience, I will talk about what collaborative and engaged anthropology means in the context of escalating violent conflict. What I am interested in here, at a general level, are the (pre-) conditions and the limits of public engagement.

Markus V. Hoehne is lecturer at the Institute for Social Anthropology at University of Leipzig (Germany). He did field research in Somalia, Peru, and Germany. His focus is on conflict, non-state political orders, kinship, political Islam, forensic anthropology, and transitional justice. He is the author of numerous scholarly publications, including "Between Somaliland and Puntland: Marginalization, militarization and conflicting political visions" (London: RVI 2015) and the co-edited volume "Dynamics of Identification and Conflict: Anthropological Encounters" (NY: Berghahn 2023).

Event co-sponsors will be the Department of History, Africana and Latin American Studies Program and the Colgate-Leipzig Collaboration.