Ass.-Prof. i. R. Mag. Dr. Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek

Assistent Professor

Contact Details

Teaching

Past Courses: u:find

Research Focus Areas

  • Socio-Economic Transformations in the Middle East and Central Asia
  • Ethnicity and other Collective Identities
  • State and Nation-Building Processes
  • Kinship and Politics, Development Studies
  • Gender Studies
  • Migration and Forced Migration Studies
  • Militarizing Anthropology

Short Biography

Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek was born in Upper Austria and studied Sociology, Political Science (MA in 1979) and Social and Cultural Anthropology, Turkology and Islamic Studies (Ph.D. in 1984). After completing her Ph.D. dissertation on Changes of the Traditional Economy in an Anatolian Village she started working at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Vienna. Until today Rasuly has also given lectures at a large array of different universities, e.g. the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Boston University, Harvard University. She has been a visiting research fellow at the Program in Agrarian Studies at Yale University and at the History Department of Samarkand State University, Uzbekistan and a mentor in the Central Asia Research Initiative of the Open Society Institute, Soros Foundation.

Rasuly-Paleczek conducted extensive field research in various parts of Turkey and among Afghan refugees in Pakistan as well as archival research in the India Office Library in London.

She has been involved in establishing the European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) and served as the society´s general secretary, 2000-2002 vice-president and president. Since 2014 she is a member of the advisory board of the Cultural Studies Association of Turkey.

Selected Publications

  • Gabriele Rasuly–Paleczek: Kapitel 5: Die AfghanInnen [The Afghans]. In: Josef Kohlbacher, Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek, Andreas Hackl, Sabine Bauer: Endbericht der Studie: Wertehaltungen und Erwartungen von Flüchtlingen in Österreich. Wien, Februar 2017; S. 52 – 77. https://www.bmeia.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Zentrale/Integration/Studien/Studie_Wertehaltungen_und_Erwartungen.pdf 
  • Many Reasons for Leaving Afghanistan: Social Obligations in Times of Protracted Violence. In: Kohlbacher, Josef und Schiocchet, Leo (Eds.): From Destination to Integration – Afghan, Syrian and Iraqi Refugees in Vienna. ISR-Forschungberichte 45. Wien 2017, Verlag ÖAW; pp. 57 - 83.
  • Migration and its Impact on Armenia: Introduction. In: Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek and Maria Anna Six-Hohenbalken (Eds.): Migration and its Impact on Armenia: A field practice (erscheint als special issue der ASSA: Austrian Studies in Social Anthropology im November 2017)
  • Canfield Robert L. and Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek (Eds.): Ethnicity, Authority and Power in Central Asia: New Games Great and Small. Abingdon /UK and New York/ USA 2011; Routledge; pp.249
  • Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Alignment Politics and Factionalism among the Uzbeks of North-Eastern Afghanistan. In: Robert L. Canfield and Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek (Eds.): Ethnicity, Authority and Power in Central Asia: New Games Great and Small. Abingdon /UK and New York/ USA 2011 ; Routledge; pp. 77 - 94.
  • Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Den Jüngeren küsse ich die Augen, den Älteren küsse ich die Hände: zum guten Benehmen in der türkischen Gesellschaft.  [Kissing the Eyes of the Young, Kissing the Hands of the Elderly: on Decent Behavior in Turkish Society“]. In: Wernhart Karl R. and Wagner, Helmut (Eds.): Kulturen des Benehmens. Aufsatzsammlung. Wien; Feldmann Verlags GmbH 2008 ; pp. 119 – 136.

Current Projects

Pilot Study 1: “Flight Processes and Arrival in Austria”:

Co-funded by the Institute for Urban and Regional Studies and the Institute for social Anthropology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences this pilot study is based on a sample of 60 extensive narrative interviews with asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. The study analyzed the reasons for fleeing, the flight process itself as well as the first experiences in Austria and the aspirations and perspective for their future in Austria.

Duration: January to April 2016

Collaborators: 

MMag.DDr. Josef Kohlbacher (ISR-ÖAW)

Ass.Prof. Mag.Dr.Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek (IKSA)

Mag. Dr. Maria-Anna Six Hohenbalken (ISA-ÖAW)

Publication of project results:

“Many Reasons for Leaving Afghanistan: Social Obligations in Times of Protracted Violence” In: Kohlbacher, Josef und Schiocchet, Leo (Eds.): From Destination to Integration – Afghan, Syrian and Iraqi Refugees in Vienna. ISR-Forschungsberichte 45. Wien  2017, Verlag ÖAW; pp. 57 – 83

Together with Josef Kohlbacher „From Destination to Integration“ - First Experiences of Asylum Seekers from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq arriving in Austria.

In: 4.Jahrbuch der Migrations- und Integrationsforschung in Österreich (in press)


Project 2: Value concepts and expectations of refugees entitled to asylum and subsidiary protection in Austria:

In this study the value concepts of recent asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq as well as problem areas relevant for their integration (e.g. labour market, housing, education) were analyzed. Based on a quantitative survey conducted in Vienna, Upper and Lower Austria and Burgenland a total of 898 persons were interviewed. The questionnaire covered a wide spectrum of topics such as reasons for flight, professional qualifications, expectations related to planning a new life in Austria, attitudes towards democracy, gender equality, religiosity as well as factors facilitating or hindering a successful integration into the Austrian society (e.g. knowledge of German, contacts with Austrians, recognition of educational certificates and professional skilled obtained in the original home country etc.)

Project leaders:

Prof. Dr. Heinz Fassmann (Institute for Urban and Regional Research – ISR/ ÖAW)

Prof. Dr. Andre Gingrich (Institute for Social Anthropology – ISA/ ÖAW)

Project team:

At the Institute for Urban and Regional Research – ISR/ ÖAW 

 MMag.DDr. Josef Kohlbacher

At the Institute for Social Anthropology – ISA/ ÖAW

 Mag.Dr. Maria-Anna Six-Hohenbalken, MA Sabine Bauer, Mag.Dr. Andreas Hackl

At the Department for Social and Cultural Anthropologie – IKSA – University of Vienna

 Ass.-Prof. Mag.Dr.Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek

Duration: March to December 2016

Financing: BMEIA

Publication of project results:

Josef Kohlbacher, Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek, Andreas Hackl, Sabine Bauer

„Wertehaltungen und Erwartungen von Asylberechtigten und subsidiär Schutzberechtigten in Österreich“, [Value concepts and expectations of refugees entitled to asylum and subsidiary protection in Austria]; Vienna, February 2017, 119 pp.


Project 3: "Release - get through - arrive": A trans-disciplinary analysis of the recent situation of refugees in Austria (LODA)

This joint project of the Ror-N investigates the attitudes and experiences of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan concerning their flight and their integration process into different sections of Austrian society, spanning "official" parts (e.g. the education system, the labor and housing market), as well as the broader society in Vienna, smaller cities and rural communities. The project is based on a cooperation between eight research institutes from the "Refugee Outreach&Research Network" of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, with relevant caseworkers, NGOs, local authorities, and public institutions on different levels. It seeks to generate more objective knowledge on the controversial public discourse of the so-called "refugee crisis" using evidence-based and scientific methods. The project addresses the Austrian situation as a new field of investigation and shed lights on the innovative and to-date largely unknown aspects - such as the requirement structures - affecting the refugees coming to Austria and their integration paths.

This joint project of the Ror-N investigates the attitudes and experiences of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan concerning their flight and their integration process into different sections of Austrian society, spanning "official" parts (e.g. the education system, the labor and housing market), as well as the broader society in Vienna, smaller cities and rural communities. The project is based on a cooperation between eight research institutes from the "Refugee Outreach&Research Network" of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, with relevant caseworkers, NGOs, local authorities, and public institutions on different levels. It seeks to generate more objective knowledge on the controversial public discourse of the so-called "refugee crisis" using evidence-based and scientific methods. The project addresses the Austrian situation as a new field of investigation and shed lights on the innovative and to-date largely unknown aspects - such as the requirement structures - affecting the refugees coming to Austria and their integration paths.

Project leaders:

MMag.DDr. Josef Kohlbacher (Institute for Urban and Regional Research – ISR/ ÖAW)

Mag.Dr. Anna-Maria Six-Hohenbalken (Institute for Social Anthropology – ISA/ ÖAW)

Project team:

At the Institute for Urban and Regional Research – ISR/ ÖAW 

Mag. Dr. Ursula Reeger, Mona Röhm, MA

At the Institute for Social Anthropology – ISA/ ÖAW

Sabine Bauer, MA; Dr. Leonardo Schiocchet

At the Department for Social and Cultural Anthropologie – IKSA – University of Vienna

Ass.Prof. Mag.Dr.Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek

Cooperations at ÖAW:   

 IKT (Institute for Culture Studies and Theatre History 

     IFI (Institute for Iranian Studies)

Duration: March 2017 to February 2019

Financing: Innovationsfonds of ÖAW

Project 4: Processes of Integration of Accepted Asylum Seekers and Persons with a Subsidiary Protection Status from Afghanistan in Austria

This research aims to analyze the changes in value concepts and expectations of accepted asylum seekers and persons with subsidiary protection status from Afghanistan and their process of social and structural integration in the Austrian society and its various systems (educational institutions, labour and housing market etc). The target group are Afghan refugees – including former unaccompanied minors, now above the age of 18 year - living in Vienna, Lower and Upper Austria. Afghan accepted asylum seekers and individuals with subsidiary protection status of different ethno-religious, background and diverging time of residence as well as other socio-demographic characteristics will be studied.

Project leader:

Prof.Dr. Heinz Fassmann

Project team:

At the Institute for Urban and Regional Research – ISR/ÖAW

MMag.DDr. Josef Kohlbacher, Mag. Victoria Reitter und Mag. Marie Leitner

At the Department for Social and Cultural Anthropology – IKSA – University of Vienna

Ass.Prof. Mag.Dr.Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek, MA Doris Friedrich (IKSA-Uni Wien)

Duration: March 2016 to February 2017

Financing: BMEIA

Lectures and Presentations

Paper Presentations since 2012

2016

 „Genealogies of Persecution: Narration Persecution and Discrimination”.

Paper Presentation in the panel session “Transgenerational (Non) Transmission of Memories of Violence in the Middle East – Women´s Accounts”, organized by Özlem Goner (City University of New York, College of Staten Island) and Maria Anna Six-Hohenbalken (Institute for Social Anthropology (ISA), Austria,  at the 115th Annual Meeting of the AAA in Minneapolis, November 16th to 20th, 2016

Afghanistan: Mehr als 3 Jahrzehnte Krieg, Flucht, Vertreibung und Rückkehr. [Afghanistan: More than 3 Decades of War, Flight, Displacement and Return] at the Volkshochschule Alsergrund/Vienna, October 19th , 2016

Afghanistan aktuelle Situation.[Afghanistan Current Situation]; at the event „Vernetzungstreffen: Initiativen & Ehrenamtliche in der Flüchtlingsarbeit“ Amstetten/ Austria, September 17th, 2016

Konfliktlinien Herkunftsländer – Afghanistan.[Conflict Lines Countries of Origin – Afghanistan]; at the event „Geflüchtet. Angekommen. Und jetzt? Anthropologische Perspektiven, regionale Einblicke und alltagserleichternde Ausblicke in der Arbeit mit Flüchtlingen. At the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, September 16th , 2016

Together with Josef Kohlbacher “From Destination to Integration” – First Experiences of Asylum Seekers from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq arriving in Austria”; at the 4th Jahrestagung für Migrations- und Integrationsforschung, Vienna, September 12th, 2016

Together with Josef Kohlbacher „From Turkey to Austria: Case Studies of Asylum Seekers from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq in Austria”; at the 4th Turkish Migration Conference in Vienna, July 15th, 2016

Years of flight, Displacement and Resettlement: Case Study from Afghanistan; at ROR-n (Refugee Outreach & Research Network), Institute for Social Anthropology, Austrian Academy of Sciences/Vienna, May 20th, 2016

Afghanistan: Mehr als 3 Jahrzehnte Krieg, Flucht, Vertreibung und Rückkehr. [Afghanistan: More than 3 Decades of War, Flight, Displacement and Return]; at an event organized by the Austrian Oriental Academy at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, April 14th , 2016

2015

„Tribale Gesellschaften im nationalstaatlichen Kontext des Nahen Ostens“. [tribal societies in the nation-state context of the Middle East]; at the lecture series “Occident – Orient” at the Wissenschaftsforum Purkersdorf/ Austria, January 12th 2015

“Migrants from a Western Anatolian Mountain Village” at the Turkish Migration Conference 2015 at Charles University Prague/ Czech Republic, June 26th 2015

“Migration and Environment: a Case Study from Western Anatolia” at the VIII. International Cultural Studies Conference: “Environment and Culture” organized by the Cultural Studies Association of Turkey and the Department of Anthropology, Yeditepe University; at Boğazici University/ Istanbul, September 1st to 3rd , 2015

2014

“Western Perceptions on the Turco-Persian World” at a Symposium in Commemoration of Andreas Tietze´s 100th Birthday, July 14th to 17th, 2014; Institute for Oriental Studies, University of Vienna/ Austria

2013

“Making Sense of Fevziye köyü”: in the Panel Session: Rethinking the Rural- Urban-Divide in the Middle East. at the 112th Annual Meeting of the AAA in Chicago, November 20th to 24th, 2013 

“Memorizing our village”: Clips of a revisit after nearly three decades” at the Memory and Culture Symposium, September 5th to 7th, 2013, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey 

“The Militarization of Anthropology – past and present military projects and the reactions of the US scientific community”, in the Workshop Militarizing Anthropology – ethische Herausforderungen, 8.Tage der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie, Vienna Anthropology Days, June 6th to 7th, 2013

“Bargaining for Peace in Afghanistan” at the Anthropology Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; January 31st, 2013

2012

“Conflict Settlement and Mediation among the Uzbeks of Northeastern-Afghanistan” in the Panel Session 5-0830: Afghanistan: Assessing the Impact of Three Decades of Military Occupation, War and Violence on Society and Culture. [organized by Prof. Robert L. Canfield and Prof. Nazif M. Shahrani], at the 111th Annual Meeting of the AAA in San Francisco, November 14th to 18th, 2012; 

“Unruly Afghans? Some Remarks on the Fault Lines of State Building in post-Taliban Afghanistan” at the Middle East Studies Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; November 14th, 2012

"Migration and its Impact on Rural Communities in Western Turkey" at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology of Development, Graduate Institute of Development Studies, Geneva/ Switzerland; May 22nd, 2012

Participation in Conferences since 2012

2016

Workshop “Central Asia and Migration through the Perspective of Oral History (in the 20th century), organized by the Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague November 11th , 2016

115th  Annual Meetings of the Association of American Anthropologists in Minneapolis, November 16th to 20th, 2016

4th Jahrestagung für Migrations- und Integrationsforschung, Vienna, September 12th to 13th, 2016

4th Turkish Migration Conference, Vienna, July 12th to 15th, 2016

 8th Dialogforum der Donau-Universität Krems, Department für Migration und Globalisierung, Krems, June 27th to 30th, 2016

2015

Participation at the VIII. International Cultural Studies Conference: “Environment and Culture” organized by Cultural Studies Association of Turkey and the Department of Anthropology, Yeditepe University; at Boğazici University/ Istanbul, September 1st to 3rd, 2015

Participation in the Third Turkish Migration Conference at Charles University Prague/ Czech Republic, June 25th to 27th  2015

2014

Participation in the Workshop “Afghanistan: Assessing the Impact of 35 Years of Wars and Violence on Social Institutions”, April 17th to 20th, 2014; Department of Anthropology. Indiana University Bloomington

2013

Participation in the 112th  Annual Meetings of the Association of American Anthropologists in Chicago, November 20th to 24th,  2013 

Participation in the Memory and Culture Symposium, September 5th to 7th, 2013, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey 

2012

Participation in the 111th Annual Meetings of the Association of American Anthropologists in San Francisco, November 14th to 18th, 2012