Samuli Schielke

Dr. Samuli Schielke is a distinguished anthropologist working at the intersection of migration, religion, and political economy. Since 2009, he has served as a Researcher at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), while also holding an adjunct teaching position in the MA Visual and Media Anthropology and BA Social and Cultural Anthropology programs at Freie Universität Berlin since 2010.

His research explores the paradoxes of modern life in Egypt and the Middle East, focusing on:

• Migrant aspirations and social reproduction under globalization
• Moral ambiguities in religious and political contexts
• Temporal experiences in revolutionary societies
• Urban transformations and cultural memory
• Relationships between capitalism and stability

Schielke's work reveals how ordinary people navigate unsolvable contradictions between spiritual values, economic pressures, and generational expectations. His 2023 article Between home and accommodation examines housing investments in climate-affected regions, while his monograph The Dream of Stability (2020-2023) provides comprehensive insights into Egyptian migration patterns.

His scientific achievements include:

• Doctor of Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam (cum laude, 2006)
• Title of Docent (Habilitation) in Social Anthropology, University of Tampere (2017)

Through extensive fieldwork in Egypt (2014, 2022) and the Gulf (2021, 2022), Schielke has developed innovative approaches to understanding the anthropology of destiny and the relationship between freedom and structural constraints. His teaching spans anthropology of Islam, visual anthropology, and theories of cultural practice at Berlin's graduate programs.