On any given day, the remains of countless deceased migrants are shipped around the world to be buried in ancestral soils. Others are laid to rest in countries of settlement, sometimes in cemeteries established for religious and ethnic minorities, where available. For immigrants and their descendants, perennial questions about the meaning of home and homeland take on a particular gravitas in death. When the boundaries of a nation and its members are contested, burial decisions are political acts. Building on multi-sited fieldwork in Berlin and Istanbul – where the author worked as an undertaker – Dying Abroad offers a moving and powerful account of migrants' end-of-life dilemmas, vividly illustrating how they are connected to ongoing political struggles over the stakes of citizenship, belonging, and collective identity in contemporary Europe.

Honorable Mention, 2024 Alixa Naff Prize, Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

Winner, 2024 Charles Taylor Award, American Political Science Association

Winner, 2024 Yale Ferguson Award, International Studies Association

Winner, 2025 ENMISA Distinguished Book Award, International Studies Association

‘Meticulously researched and heartbreakingly told, Balkan's analysis of ‘death out of place' for Muslims of Turkish and Kurdish descent in Germany is original, important, and unforgettable.'

Neda Maghbouleh - University of Toronto Mississauga

‘What happens to those who die ‘out of place'? Dying Abroad is a remarkable, eloquent and extensively researched study in which Balkan demonstrates that death, dying, and posthumous acts of burial, bereavement, repatriation, and memorialization are contested processes for migrant Muslim communities in Europe, and constitute complex negotiations of social, political, religious, and cultural membership and belonging.'

Lisa Lowe - Yale University

‘Dying Abroad is an exciting read! With his precise, eloquent language and observations, Osman Balkan gives us an insightful and personal account of ‘death out of place'. His book provides an important window into contemporary social and political orders and the role that end-of-life practices play in the negotiation of manifold boundaries in transnational lives.'

Finn Stepputat - Danish Institute for International Studies

‘… a richly informative book that makes clear contributions to the study of multiculturalism, transnationalism, and citizenship. Though Balkan focuses on Muslims of Turkish and Kurdish descent in Germany, the same challenges and questions around end-of-life practices should resonate with minoritized populations everywhere … The book’s narrative style and fascinating content make the book accessible to scholarly and non-scholarly audiences, and I recommend the book for classroom adoption in undergraduate and graduate courses on migration, citizenship, race and ethnicity, biopolitics, or European politics … Additionally, the book demonstrates the artistry involved in converting a dissertation into an accessible and engaging book manuscript and provides an excellent example of how to persuasively and elegantly incorporate ethnographic fieldwork.’

Aubrey Westfall Source: Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics

‘Dying Abroad provides an original account of a common yet understudied topic - the impact of dying away from home on migrant communities. While we will all die, migrants face greater challenges than most in this regard due to dislocation from country-of-origin burial practices that may not be supported in the host society, differing views on the appropriate repatriation of bodies, and other potential cultural obstacles. The act of dying is a physical, spiritual, and political event that holds implications for the immigration country, the deceased and their loved ones alike. Balkan demonstrates that burial and death practices in migration host societies tell us something deeper about integration policy and its limits.’

Anna Katherine Boucher Source: Perspectives on Politics

‘… an original account of a common yet understudied topic - the impact of dying away from home on migrant communities. While we will all die, migrants face greater challenges than most in this regard due to dislocation from country-of-origin burial practices that may not be supported in the host society, differing views on the appropriate repatriation of bodies, and other potential cultural obstacles. The act of dying is a physical, spiritual, and political event that holds implications for the immigration country, the deceased and their loved ones alike. Balkan demonstrates that burial and death practices in migration host societies tell us something deeper about integration policy and its limits.’

Anna Katherine Boucher Source: Perspectives on Politics

‘In Dying Abroad, Osman Balkan presents an exceptional and deeply thought-provoking analysis of what happens when migrants die 'out of place.' Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Muslim funeral homes and cemeteries, alongside interviews with religious leaders, migrant families, and state officials, Balkan turns our attention to a crucial but often ignored aspect of migration: The end-of-life practices and decisions. For anyone who experiences migration personally or through their loved ones, this book is also a reminder that their struggle over claiming membership and identity extends beyond the limits of biological life … this meticulously researched and theoretically innovative book is a vital addition that will be of interest to scholars across disciplines as well as policymakers and broader audiences.’

Pınar Dilan Sönmez Gioftsios Source: Nationalities Papers