Author Description

Here is an exploration, unlike any before, of the fascinating, often poignant tension between the changing meaning of home and the experience of being the stranger amidst a century of runaway change. Accomplished authors and scholars share their intimate stories of seeking and struggle for home as a place and as a deeply held metaphor for the source and goal of our being. Through these personal narratives come insights about the global phenomena of migration and mobility, as lone pilgrims and whole populations, caught between "not yet from here, no longer from there," cross borders and oceans in their search for that safe, comfortable abode we all long for. This unique Euro-American collaboration presents ten essays and five portraits anchored in relevant academic research. The authors share pilgrimages across miles and generations that have made them the stranger and led them to see old places with new eyes. Their stories point toward the essential meaning of identity in ways that help us face the question of who among us is entitled to declare, "I am home." "Finding home-a space to express who you are and connect yourself with others who are different-is not always easy, requiring both self-esteem and a strong belief in your own identity. From both scientific and personal perspectives, this book points the way home." -Karen van Oudenhoven-van der Zee, Professor of Intercultural Competencies and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Vrije University, Amsterdam