Sonja Moghaddari - Internal Diversity: Iranian Germans Between Local Boundaries and Transnational Capital

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Cover image Sonja Moghaddari

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Writing this book seemed to me like doing pottery: over and over, I looked at the clay, I weighted it in my hands, wedged it, molded it to sculpt it into a form I thought was fitting. Then I set it aside, but looking at it again after a while, I tried out new shapes, until I had it standing stably on its own. I am very happy and incredibly grateful for having had the chance to have numerous people who, each in their own way, accompanied me through all the different stages of this research and writing experience.

I would not have been able to write this book without the open-mindedness and the interest of my interlocutors in Hamburg and elsewhere, who allowed me to dive into their world and carry out in-depth long-term ethnographic fieldwork. To each and every one of them, I am highly indebted. As it is impossible to cite them all, I would like to stress my particular gratitude to Babak, Milad, and Solmaz, who did not only share their thoughts and experiences, but also offered me their friendship. My special thanks go also to Siavash, who shared my fascination with the history of Hamburgs early Iranian merchants. Many thanks to Behruz for having allowed me to be anot always easyvolunteer in the Color festival, and to the Golestanis who helped me to develop new feelings of belonging.

This book would not have taken the shape it did without the inspiration of brilliant, insightful, and supportive colleagues and mentors. I am particularly grateful to Alessandro Monsutti not only to have allowed me to deepen my understandings of transnational inequality, but also for his availability and reliability as an advisor during my doctorate, on which this book is drawing. A thousand thanks to Christian Bromberger who has been a serene, engaging mentor and an important model of a mindful ethnographer, since he sparked my interest in the anthropology of Iran when I first met him as an undergraduate student in Hamburg.Dast-e shom dard nakone. As a third mentor and friend, I will thank Cristian Alvarado Leytons encouraging guidance and uneasy questions. He taught me to believe in myself and the value of migrants becoming anthropologists.

I am thankful to Yvan Droz, Sandro Cattacin, and Sabine Strasser for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this work as members of my thesis committee. I further wish to thank Frdric Saumade, Shalini Randeria, Gaetano Ciarcia, Anja Weiss, Thomas Faist, Anne-Christine Trmon, Susanne Bygnes, and Amin Moghaddam for academic guidance and constructive feedback. I thank Steven Vertovec for his support as a mentor and series editor. Thanks also to Christiane Kofri, Birgitt Sippel and the Palgrave team for the logistical help in the publishing process.