University of Surrey

CRONEM RESEARCH FELLOW, CRONEM

Research Fellow CRONEM (currently at Surrey)

About

to contact me: davidgarbin (at) yahoo.com


Dr David Garbin is sociologist and research fellow at CRONEM (Centre for Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism, University of Surrey).  He completed his PhD in 2004 on the Bengali diaspora, migration and transnational networks, after a 3-year multi-sited fieldwork in London (Tower Hamlets) and Bangladesh (Sylhet). In 2004-2005 he worked on a Leverhulme Trust-funded research project exploring acculturation and new identity dynamics among British Bangladeshi and mixed-heritage youth in London.
He is currently managing an international comparative research project on minorities, civic engagement and citizenship in Europe and also involved in the study of black Christians, Muslims and Hindus in London as part of a wider comparative research project in the UK, South Africa and Malaysia (funded by the Ford Foundation and SSRC, New York). He is conducting fieldwork among French-speaking Africans, mainly Congolese migrants in London, and British Asians. He is also undertaking fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa and Nkamba) as part of his ethnography of the Kimbanguist church, one of the largest African independent churches.
In collaboration with Gareth Millington (Roehampton University) he is also exploring issues of postcolonialism, youth identities and urban/spatial marginalisation in post-riot France, taking as a case study the Parisian banlieue of La Courneuve.

His research interests include transnational religion, African and South Asian diasporas, migration, globalisation, diasporic processes, popular culture, and the politics of identity and ethnicity in urban settings.


Selected publications:



Garbin, D. (forthcoming) ‘Visibility and invisibility of migrant faith in the city: diaspora religion and the politics of emplacement of Afro-Christian churches’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

Garbin, D. and Millington, G. (forthcoming): ‘Territorial stigma and the politics of resistance in a Parisian banlieue: La Courneuve and beyond’ Urban Studies.

Garbin, D. and Vasquez, M. (2011): ‘God is technology: mediating the sacred in the Congolese diaspora’ in Fortunati, L., Pertierra, R. and Vincent, J. (Eds) Migrations, Diaspora and Information Technology in Global Societies. London and New York: Routledge.


Garbin, D. (2010): ‘Embodied spirit(s) and charismatic power among Congolese migrants in London’ in Dawson, A. Summoning the Spirits: Possession and Invocation in Contemporary Religion. NY : IB Tauris.

Garbin, D. (2010): ‘Symbolic geographies of the sacred: diasporic territorialisation and charismatic power in a transnational Congolese prophetic church’ in Hüwelmeier, G. & Krause, K. (eds): Traveling spirits: migrants, markets and mobilities. London: Routledge.

Garbin, D. and Pambu, W.G. (2009): Roots and Routes: Congolese diaspora in multicultural Britain. London: CRONEM/CORECOG.

Garbin, D. (2008): ‘A diasporic sense of place: dynamics of spatialization and transnational political fields among Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain’ in Smith, M. P. & Eade, J. (eds): Transnational ties: cities, identities, and migrations. New Brunswick and London: (CUCR, Vol. 9) Transaction Publishers.

Eade, J. & Garbin, D. (2007): ‘Reinterpreting the relationship between the centre and periphery: pilgrimage and sacred spatialisation among Polish and Congolese communities in Britain’, Mobilities 2 (3).

Garbin, D. (2007): ‘An overview of religious and political dynamics among the Bangladeshi diaspora in Britain’ in Sahoo, A. K. & Maharaj, B. (eds): Sociology of diaspora. New Delhi: Rawat Publications.

Garbin, D. (2007): ‘Territoires migratoires, dynamiques transnationales et ‘authenticité’ islamique: diaspora des Bengalis musulmans entre local et global, entre ici et ailleurs’ in Petit, V. (ed.): Migrations internationales de retour et pays d’origine. Paris: CEPED.

Eade, J. & Garbin, D. (2006): ‘Competing visions of identity and space: Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain’, Contemporary South Asia, 14 (2).

Garbin, D. (2005): ‘Bangladeshi diaspora: socio-cultural dynamics, religious trends and transnational politics’ in Menski, W. and Chanda, B. (eds): Proceedings of the European human rights conference on Bangladesh extremism, intolerance and violence. London: CEMS-SOAS.

Garbin, D. &  Fremeaux, I. (2005): ‘Nation, islam et ‘Banglatown’: Politiques transnationales et territoires identitaires des Bangladeshis de l'East End de Londres’ in Guédez, A. & Rakoto, H. (eds): Représentations de l’environnement et construction des territoires: Dialogue des disciplines. Poitiers: Icotem.

Garbin, D. (2002): ‘Bideshi Taka: Argent, migration et politiques transnationales entre Banglatown (Londres) et Sylhet (Bangladesh)’, Journal des Anthropologues, 90-91, pp 55-77

Garbin, D. (2002): ‘Community, multi-culturalism and the diasporic negotiation of space and identity in the East End of London’ in Eckart, F. & Hassenpflug, D. (eds): Consumption and the post-industrial city. Franckfort: Peter Lang.

Eade, J. & Garbin, D. (2002): ‘Changing narratives of violence, struggle and resistance: Bangladeshis and the competition for resources in the global city’, Oxford Development Studies, 30, pp. 137-49.

Eade, J.; Fremeaux, I. & Garbin, D. (2002): ‘The political construction of diasporic communities in the global city’ in Gilbert, P. (ed.): Imagined Londons. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Garbin, D. (2001): ‘Politiques identitaires musulmanes et représentation communautaire bengali dans l’East End de Londres’, Journal des Anthropologues, 87, pp. 183-194.

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