450406 PS Doing Translocal Research in the Global South: A Critical Appraisal (2024W)

Translocality has become a popular approach in the social science and cultural studies when it comes to analysing social phenomena that arise from the intensive mobility of people, goods, information, ideas and symbols across borders and distances. Among other things, the approach endeavours to better grasp the tensions between mobility and locality arising from increasingly complex socio-spatial dynamics. Translocality research has always been closely linked to research in the Global South. This seminar aims to take stock of and critically discuss the concepts and research practices of translocality and the Global South. It is aimed at doctoral students working in empirical translocality research. Based on ongoing doctoral theses, we will discuss the difficulties, challenges and opportunities that arise in this field of research. In the first part of the seminar, we will first look at different approaches to the concept of the Global South, as well as the question of what makes research in the Global South specific and what ethical and methodological challenges it entails. Against this background, we will work out why research in the Global South is important. In a second step, we will focus on the concept of translocality and analyse its meaning, applications, methodological and conceptual dimensions. We will discuss the fields of application, but also the limitations of the concept. A shorter session will be dedicated to preparing the questions to be addressed in the students' contributions, which will take place at a later stage. The seminar will conclude with a discussion in which we will take a critical stock of translocal research in the Global South, explore its limits and outline new fields of research in this area.