Marina de Regt - Yemen beyond Borders: Migration, Mixed Identities and Social Change

Name: Marina de Regt - Yemen beyond Borders: Migration, Mixed Identities and Social Change
Start: 2025-12-04T18:00:00+02:00
End: 2025-12-04T19:00:00+02:00
Location: NVIC - Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo

Schedule

Thu Dec 04 2025 at 06:00 pm to 07:00 pm

UTC+02:00

Location

NVIC - Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo | Cairo, QH

In the past decade an increasing number of Yemenis have left the country escaping the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in the country. They have migrated to neighbouring countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but also to Europe and North America. Yemeni migration is, however, not new; Yemenis have travelled around the world for centuries, for example to Asia and East Africa. As a result of this migration there is a large group of Yemenis of mixed descent, so-called muwalladeen.
While muwalladeen, and in particular those of mixed Yemeni-African descent, were stigmatized and marginalized in Yemen, those who have moved out of Yemen seem to embrace their mixed identities. This talk discusses these social changes, drawing on interviews with muwalladeen in Yemen and in the diaspora.
Marina de Regt is associate professor in social and cultural anthropology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She has done extensive research in Yemen, Ethiopia and Jordan, focusing on issues related to gender, migration and development. Her dissertation Pioneers or Pawns? Women Health Workers and the Politics of Development in Yemen (Syracuse University Press, 2007) was based on her long-term engagement in development projects in Yemen in the 1990s.
! attention !
The lecture starts at 6 pm. We work on a first-come, first-served basis as the number of seats is limited. We open our doors at 5:30 and close them at 6:15 or earlier when the lecture room reaches its full capacity.