Zahir Musa Abdal-Kareem

Zahir Musa Abdal-Kareem is a Research Fellow at the Department 'Integration and Conflict' within the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle/Saale, Germany. His current research project focuses on 'Exclusion Practises in the Context of Immigration in the City of Halle-Saale, Germany' as part of the Challenges of Migration, Integration and Exclusion Research Initiative on Migration of the Max Planck Society.

Dr. Abdal-Kareem completed his PhD at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in 2016 through the International Max Planck Research School on Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment (IMPRS-REMEP). His doctoral research employed an interdisciplinary approach combining social anthropology from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology with criminology, international law, legal history, and public law perspectives from other Max Planck Institutes.

His research interests span sociological theory, cultural and political anthropology, migration studies, social systems, and processes of integration and conflict. Methodologically, he employs classical ethnographic techniques including participant observation, field notes, and structured interviews to examine how social order and control are negotiated in diverse contexts. His current work investigates exclusion practices among immigrant groups in Halle-Neustadt, challenging the notion that refugees are merely marginalized groups by positioning them as active participants in local social dynamics.

Dr. Abdal-Kareem's doctoral research examined group identification and resource conflicts in Gedaref State, Eastern Sudan through fieldwork conducted from 2011-2012. His theoretical approach integrates economic cost-benefit analysis with examination of social structures and cognitive representations, challenging dichotomies between 'resource conflicts' and 'ethnic conflicts.' He demonstrates how groups switch between collective identities and employ exclusion/inclusion strategies based on both rational calculations and prevailing identification logics.