Susanna Trotta | Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (original) (raw)

Papers, Reports, Articles by Susanna Trotta

Religions, 2024

Despite a growing body of academic literature on religion and migration, there is limited focus o... more Despite a growing body of academic literature on religion and migration, there is limited focus on the roles of migrant religious communities and on how religious everyday practices intersect with migration and its implications. This study seeks to address these issues from a post- and decolonial perspective, through the analysis of the activities of the St. Georgis Eritrean orthodox church in Berlin. It draws on material collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and primary text analysis between 2023 and 2024. Some of the main findings include the fact that the church provides a range of services to its members, e.g., family conflict resolution sessions and specific meetings for families with children with disabilities, which address some of the issues that the community itself chooses to prioritise and that are not addressed by other service providers. Analysing the establishment of the church and its social activities, this article focuses on the agency of the congregation and how it challenges Northern/Western religion and migration frameworks, with a specific focus on its religious dimension.

Global health science and practice, Apr 15, 2024

Religion and Development, Jan 16, 2024

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.

Religion and Development

Since the turn of the millennium, the migration–development nexus has gained renewed attention wi... more Since the turn of the millennium, the migration–development nexus has gained renewed attention within international organisations’ policies and academic debates. However, in these debates, the roles played by faith-based actors in general, and local faith actors (LFAs) in particular, have so far only been marginally addressed. This fails to reflect the growing literature and practice examples of LFAs’ engagements with both sustainable development and migration. This article focuses on the key debates around the migration–development nexus to which LFAs’ engagements with development and with migration are particularly relevant. The central part of the article outlines existing research and policy documents on LFAs, migration and development that directly speak to these debates. The last section summarises key points and directions to further explore the intersections among these areas of academic research and policymaking. These include research gaps around the role of LFAs in the pr...

The State of the Evidence in Religions and Development, 2022

This chapter looks at the evidence for the various roles of religions in displacement. The chapte... more This chapter looks at the evidence for the various roles of religions in displacement. The chapter first identifies the cases when religions are a cause for displacement, including challenges in understanding religious identity and claims of persecution. The chapter then goes on to highlight religious experiences of displacement, such as religious and spiritual coping for people experiencing trauma in migration. The chapter also discusses religion as a way to support integration in host communities for displaced people and faith-based responses to displacement from material support and shelter to advocacy for justice for refugees and migrants.

The State of the Evidence in Religions and Development, 2022

This chapter introduces the field of religions and development evidence. It defines “religions an... more This chapter introduces the field of religions and development evidence. It defines “religions and development” as a field of study. It summarizes the major publications specific to religions and development in the last 20 years. It comments on current trends and publications in the field. Finally, it puts forward a common framework for defining faith actors, built from many publications that have proposed faith actor typologies.

The Handbook of Displacement, 2020

To maximize the significant opportunities presented by the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the ... more To maximize the significant opportunities presented by the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the international community must recognize the experience and capabilities of faith actors (FAs) and break down existing barriers to partnerships to enable a more comprehensive, effective, and durable response. While the GCR does acknowledge
that: “Faith-based actors could support the planning and delivery of arrangements to assist refugees and host communities, including in the areas of conflict prevention, reconciliation, and peacebuilding, as well as other relevant areas,” the critical and comprehensive role that FAs play – as well as their potential for engagement for efficient
service delivery – warrants a fuller and more nuanced examination.
This policy brief provides a set of recommendations based on evidence concerning the multiple roles that faith and faith actors1 play across different stages and spaces of forced displacement. The brief is aligned with the GCR’s sections on Arrangements for Burden- and Responsibility-sharing and its three Areas in Need of Support Reception and Admission, Meeting Needs and Supporting Communities, and Solutions).

Religions, 2024

Despite a growing body of academic literature on religion and migration, there is limited focus o... more Despite a growing body of academic literature on religion and migration, there is limited focus on the roles of migrant religious communities and on how religious everyday practices intersect with migration and its implications. This study seeks to address these issues from a post- and decolonial perspective, through the analysis of the activities of the St. Georgis Eritrean orthodox church in Berlin. It draws on material collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and primary text analysis between 2023 and 2024. Some of the main findings include the fact that the church provides a range of services to its members, e.g., family conflict resolution sessions and specific meetings for families with children with disabilities, which address some of the issues that the community itself chooses to prioritise and that are not addressed by other service providers. Analysing the establishment of the church and its social activities, this article focuses on the agency of the congregation and how it challenges Northern/Western religion and migration frameworks, with a specific focus on its religious dimension.

Global health science and practice, Apr 15, 2024

Religion and Development, Jan 16, 2024

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.

Religion and Development

Since the turn of the millennium, the migration–development nexus has gained renewed attention wi... more Since the turn of the millennium, the migration–development nexus has gained renewed attention within international organisations’ policies and academic debates. However, in these debates, the roles played by faith-based actors in general, and local faith actors (LFAs) in particular, have so far only been marginally addressed. This fails to reflect the growing literature and practice examples of LFAs’ engagements with both sustainable development and migration. This article focuses on the key debates around the migration–development nexus to which LFAs’ engagements with development and with migration are particularly relevant. The central part of the article outlines existing research and policy documents on LFAs, migration and development that directly speak to these debates. The last section summarises key points and directions to further explore the intersections among these areas of academic research and policymaking. These include research gaps around the role of LFAs in the pr...

The State of the Evidence in Religions and Development, 2022

This chapter looks at the evidence for the various roles of religions in displacement. The chapte... more This chapter looks at the evidence for the various roles of religions in displacement. The chapter first identifies the cases when religions are a cause for displacement, including challenges in understanding religious identity and claims of persecution. The chapter then goes on to highlight religious experiences of displacement, such as religious and spiritual coping for people experiencing trauma in migration. The chapter also discusses religion as a way to support integration in host communities for displaced people and faith-based responses to displacement from material support and shelter to advocacy for justice for refugees and migrants.

The State of the Evidence in Religions and Development, 2022

This chapter introduces the field of religions and development evidence. It defines “religions an... more This chapter introduces the field of religions and development evidence. It defines “religions and development” as a field of study. It summarizes the major publications specific to religions and development in the last 20 years. It comments on current trends and publications in the field. Finally, it puts forward a common framework for defining faith actors, built from many publications that have proposed faith actor typologies.

The Handbook of Displacement, 2020

To maximize the significant opportunities presented by the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the ... more To maximize the significant opportunities presented by the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the international community must recognize the experience and capabilities of faith actors (FAs) and break down existing barriers to partnerships to enable a more comprehensive, effective, and durable response. While the GCR does acknowledge
that: “Faith-based actors could support the planning and delivery of arrangements to assist refugees and host communities, including in the areas of conflict prevention, reconciliation, and peacebuilding, as well as other relevant areas,” the critical and comprehensive role that FAs play – as well as their potential for engagement for efficient
service delivery – warrants a fuller and more nuanced examination.
This policy brief provides a set of recommendations based on evidence concerning the multiple roles that faith and faith actors1 play across different stages and spaces of forced displacement. The brief is aligned with the GCR’s sections on Arrangements for Burden- and Responsibility-sharing and its three Areas in Need of Support Reception and Admission, Meeting Needs and Supporting Communities, and Solutions).