In the context of widespread violence, state collapse and forced migration, class structure and class belonging are especially volatile. Within the country, people might loose their property and their possibility to earn an income. When leaving the country, they face problems of transferring capital and with legal insecurity. Yet, while some people experience steep downward socio-economic mobility in such contexts, others keep their class position, rebuild it over time or to even gain in status. By following the migration history of some former members of the Somali middle and upper class, this presentation traces these processes of renegotiating class positions. While some of the people featuring in this presentation have moved to proximate countries of refuge (such as Kenya), other migrated to more distant ones. I will show that migration choices play a highly important role for the ability to build a new life. These choices are shaped by socio-economic status, but are not entirely determined by it. The presentation is based on long-term fieldwork conducted in Kenya, Germany, and Austria.
