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Abstract

This thesis depicts some aspects of lives of the young transnational Hazaras. It focuses on what it means to be a young Hazara today; a generation exposed to multiple expulsions and constantly on the move. To address this, I drew on theoretical literature, several years of ethnographic field research, autoethnography and cyberethnography of transnational young Hazaras in Iran, Afghanistan and Europe. The transnational young Hazaras are defined by a shared history of exclusion, suffering and continuous mobility; elements that define their generation. They use their transnational network and the dynamics of its social space, facilitated by digital media, to construct their self, home and community. Although a cosmopolitan life has been forced upon them, they rationalise their ongoing mobility: "There is death in immobility". This thesis is a contribution not only to anthropology, but also to migration studies, Iranian studies and diaspora studies. It helps in understanding the complexities of displacement in the region. The Afghan and in particular Hazara diasporas are multifaceted. In this thesis, I write about mobility, rather than migration. I write about 'Awāragi', (wandering) and try open new windows in understanding human mobility. The thesis destabilises all the binaries in the literature of home/host countries, migrants/refugees, voluntary/forced migration. It also contributes to existing research by bringing a gender lens and an auto-ethnographic aspect; a non-traditional structure in the field of anthropology.

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