Acknowledgments

THIS BOOK HAS its origins in Eritrea, a country whose people generously and graciously shared their lives with us, first when we traveled there as Peace Corps volunteers in the 1990s (at separate times and to separate towns), later when we traveled as researchers (at the same time but to separate regions), and during the many times we returned to the country to deepen relationships with friends and, in Jennifer Riggan’s case, family. We are currently unable to travel to Eritrea due to the political circumstances that sent many refugees fleeing. Love for Eritrea; a deep concern for the plight of its people, who have been displaced so many times; admiration for their resilience, fortitude, and creativity; and a strong desire to see all of them find a safe haven are at the core of this book.

More than anyone else, we need to thank residents of the Mai Aini, Adi Harush, and Hitsats camps; refugees in Addis Ababa; and refugee university students in various parts of the country, particularly the people we cannot name for reasons of human subjects protections. Many people spent long hours hosting us, talking with us, helping us understand how things worked in the camps, and sharing their worldview with us. We hope we have been able to honor all you have shared with us.

No one writes a book in isolation, particularly one that is as long in coming together as this one. There are many people who have provided support, intellectual guidance, knowledge, insight, and inspiration. Near the top of the list of people we need to acknowledge is Dr. Alebachew Kemisso Haybano, from the Centre for Comparative Education and Policy Studies at Addis Ababa University, who provided all of those things. Other colleagues from Addis Ababa University also provided support during many thought-provoking conversations, including Dr. Temesgen Fereja, Dr. Fekadu Adugna, Dr. Getaneh Mehari, and Mulu Getachew.

It is impossible, when doing research with refugees, to “go it alone.” The nature of the work requires a broad network of people who care about your work enough to incorporate you into their networks, explain how permissions are acquired and camps are accessed (a constantly shifting process), and share their wisdom and understanding with you. While we were in Ethiopia, the assistance, advice, insight, and companionship of Dr. Bereket Berhane, Dan Connell, Eyob Awoke, Patrick Phillips, Natalia Paszkiewicz, Tsionawit GebreYohannes, Welai Kidanemariam, and Mulugeta W/Eyesus made this project possible, as did the assistance from other staff who were at the time working for the Danish Refugee Council, the Jesuit Refugee Services, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission (DICAC), and the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs in Shire, Addis Ababa, and the three camps where we worked. We are particularly thankful to the teachers and school directors who shared insights with us.

Throughout the process of writing this book, we have had intellectual support from many people and institutions. Numerous panels in which we participated at the American Anthropological Association and African Studies Association provided feedback on this work. We are particularly thankful to Samer Abboud and Ben Muller for inviting us to their workshop on International Interventions and Local (In)Security and the subsequent panel at the International Studies Association meeting. We would like to thank Abigail Adams, Laura Bisaillon, Sally Bonet, Lauren Carruth, Cati Coe, Hilary Parsons Dick, Daniel Mains, Marit Ostebo, Terje Ostebo, Trish Redecker Hepner, Susan Shepler, Lahra Smith, Megan Styles, Stephen Thomas, Magnus Treiber, Awet Weldemichael, Mike Woldemariam, and many others for important conversations at conferences, on panels, and elsewhere throughout the course of writing this book. All of the participants at the Georg Arnhold 2019 symposium contributed exceptional work of their own and also provided brilliant support for our initial ideas. We owe a particular debt of gratitude to Thea Abu El-Haj for coorganizing the symposium and for being a stalwart intellectual companion on this and many other projects.

Numerous research assistants at Arcadia University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) worked on this manuscript at various stages. We are thankful to Sabrina Calazans, Tamara White, Taylor Mailly, Tessa Kilcourse, Kassidy Brown, Camille Bauerle, Alessandra Sabba, Rachel Kuria, and Rania Rashid.

Riggan is particularly grateful to the intrepid members of her COVID-19 writing group who not only provided a space to write in quiet companionship several times a week but also had undying enthusiasm for this project: Thea Abu El-Haj, Sally Bonet, Beth Rubin, Reva Jaffe-Walter, Elen Skilton, and Karishma Desai.

Riggan received funding and support from the following sources during various phases of the project: Fulbright IIE, the Georg Arnhold program at the Georg Eckert Institute, the Wolf Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Steinbrucker Endowed Chair at Arcadia University.

Amanda Poole received funding and support from the following sources: a PASSHE Professional Development Grant, the IUP University Senate Research Committee, and the IUP College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

We are deeply thankful to the wonderful editors at Indiana University Press—Allison Chaplin, Elizabeth Dunn, and Georgina Ramsay—as well as the anonymous reviewers, without whom this book would not exist.

Finally, a book does not get written without someone to make sure that the members of your household are fed, go to bed on time, get their homework done, and are generally cared for, and for that we are thankful to our partners, Gerald Smith and Ermias Zemichael, and our extended family members, including Dana, Kelly, Jeannie, Lee, John, Ann, Matt, Erin, Cis, and Kim. More than anything, we are thankful to our children, Griffin, Zuzu, Yona, and Sami, who also sacrificed, albeit unwittingly, while we were traveling to Ethiopia and spent long hours away from them while writing.