Overview

Everyday Life in the Old City of Jerusalem: Historical Transformations and Biographical Emplacements offers an intimate, ground-level exploration of everyday life in one of the world’s most contested and symbolically charged urban spaces. Moving beyond the dominant focus on Jerusalem’s political and religious significance, this book examines how individuals and communities navigate the complex realities of emplacement within the Old City’s dense and shifting environment. Through a unique combination of biographical narratives and spatial sociology, the chapters investigate how personal life stories intersect with urban space, family ties, political occupation, religious identity, and social hierarchies. From small neighbourhood dynamics and the challenges faced by Palestinians in the enlarged Jewish Quarter, to the involuntary emplacement of international monks, the book uncovers the diverse ways inhabitants experience belonging, exclusion, and adaptation in Jerusalem’s Old City. It also traces the city’s evolving socio-political landscape since 1948, offering a rich, historically informed account of daily life under occupation and intercommunal tension. A significant contribution to urban studies, Middle East studies, and the sociology of space, this book is essential reading for scholars of Jerusalem, conflict studies, and the lived experiences of divided cities.

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9781032887883

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Author Information

Johannes Becker is a sociologist specializing in biographical and family research, migration studies, urban and spatial sociology, and historical sociology, with a regional focus on the Middle East and Europe. After completing his PhD (2017) and habilitation (2024), he held research and teaching positions at the University of Göttingen and Leipzig University. He currently leads a project on Assyrian/Syriac migration histories in Germany and Jordan at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin and serves as President of the RC38 “Biography and Society” in the International Sociological Association.

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