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This editorial makes the case for revisiting class in the context of forced migration. We argue that this is necessary to better grasp the inherent diversity of forced migrants. Forced-migration research has increasingly considered aspects of differentiation, such as race or gender. Yet, scholarly work on social class in this field remains scarce. We argue that forced migrants are wrongly homogenised as ‘poor’ or ‘class-less’, and show how class-related capitals and their transferability and convertibility remain important determinants of their spatial and social (im)mobility. We develop this angle by first giving an overview of the class concepts developed by Marx, Weber, and Bourdieu, and the ways the authors of this special issue employed these concepts. Building our arguments on the contributions to this special issue that engage in empirical analyses in diverse settings, we display how social class and the different forms of capital available to forced migrants influence their perception and capacity for spatial mobility. Moreover, we discuss how class at a given moment shapes forced migrants’ future social mobility in new settings. We conclude by highlighting the considerable variation in socio-economic backgrounds of forced migrants and discussing the effects of the categorisation as ‘refugee’.

Drawing on ethnographic research with Syrians in Egypt and with Somalis in Kenya, we argue that forced migrants who are able to choose their migration trajectory might opt for places of refuge in vicinity. We show that in these contexts it is easier for some forced migrants to preserve their socio-economic status. We introduce the term proximate places of refuge to highlight that not only geographical aspects matter for these considerations, but also similarities in lifestyle and living conditions. We explore how people negotiate their class position in proximate places of refuge by looking at how they relate their current situation to the setting they lived in before and to other possible destinations. Furthermore, we show that three aspects of class-making are of specific importance in such a setting: an emic demarcation from the category of the ‘refugee’, a focus on entrepreneurialism and the valuation of high work ethics, and the ability to transfer different sorts of capital from one place to another. We conclude that moving to proximate places of refuge eases the process of transferring class positions without rupture for some forced migrants.

We discuss the balancing acts of inclusion and exclusion by analysing how Somali migrants in Germany attempt to manoeuvre between various norms, individual interests and various social networks. Building on Glick Schiller and Caglar (2016), whose work on urban sociabilities emphasizes social relations in which people act as equals, we argue that ethnic (self-)identification is important as it serves as a basis for boundary-making and for bonding within and bridging and linking between groups. Thus, a focus on sociability and ethnic identification (as a category of praxis) can, in some cases, go hand in hand. Moreover, we argue that inclusion into local Somali communities, which is often discussed in public discourse as leading to exclusion from German society, helps to establish connections. Simultaneously, exclusion through racism can lead to (self-)isolation of Somalis, but also places pressure on younger Somalis in particular to forge alliances with non-Somali Germans to stabilize their situation. Balancing social inclusion and exclusion among Somali migrants in Germany therefore can have ambiguous and at times paradoxical outcomes.

Following publication of the original article (Saharso ) Scharrer, 2022), the authors would like to correct a reference and a typo in the article text. . “Meissner, F., ) Steven, V. (2015)”, should be “Meissner F. ) Vertovec, S. (2015)”; . In pag. 10 the word tran-sracial should be “transracial”. The original article (Saharso ) Scharrer, 2022) has been corrected.

The author argues from a political science perspective that middle classes in Africa are an ‘elusive reality’, one that results largely from a debate conducted by international organizations and African political actors. The socioeconomic criteria applied in this debate make it doubtful that these middle classes exist outside of theoretical constructions. The author argues that the notion of the African middle class is attractive for a wide range of actors in politics and development organizations because this branding process transforms persons living on the positive side of the poverty line into a promising ‘middle class’ with the potential to lead economic and political development. However, even if an African middle class does not exist as a social fact, the debate surrounding its ‘rise’ does draw attention to deep structural transformations in twenty-first century African societies. This chapter follows the genesis of the debate about new African middle classes, identifies the actors involved in the debate, and presents a novel categorization of the middle classes in Africa, which goes beyond a purely quantitative description.