Vanessa Agnew 
What We Brought with Us 
Things of Exile and Migration

In exile and migration, the things that forcibly displaced people take with them become mobile testimonies of defiance, mourning, creativity, and rejuvenation. Through a series of scholarly essays and biographical vignettes, this richly-illustrated volume draws on such observations to examine the meanings that their possessions assume when they are wrenched from their original contexts. The contributors to this collection thus shine an intimate spotlight on those who are driven from their homes by conflict and forced into exile by authoritarian regimes. In so doing, they underscore the necessity for civil societies to support academic freedom and the work done by critical thinkers worldwide.

About the author

Vanessa Agnew joined the Cultural Studies Faculty at Technische Universität Dortmund in 2023. She did a Ph D in European studies at the University of Wales, and was tenured in German studies at the University of Michigan. She is Associate Director of Academy in Exile which supports scholars and cultural producers who have been forced to flee their homes by authoritarian governments. Her research deals with forced migration, genocide, memory and commemoration, historical reenactment, music history, and biology.