Dr. Henn

The impact that the strong global family networks of the Palanpuri community have had on the diamond industry in Antwerp and New York forms the subject of an international study being carried out under German researcher Dr. Sebastian Henn. The study focuses on the success of the community members in establishing strong and successful companies that have contributed to significant changes in traditional industrial structures in these two diamond districts over the past 40-50 years. The results will be available as a book in 2011.

The study is being undertaken by a team from the Department of Economic Geography at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg Institute for Geosciences in Germany.

Network Analysis

The project is headed by Dr. Henn, who has been studying the development of the Palanpuris at both locations and is assessing the changes of the local structures due to their presence. He has interacted with members of the community in both Antwerp and New York, and also visited Surat and Mumbai during the course of his study.

The study adopts a multiplicity of methods, amongst them interviews with different people and organizations from the diamond sector, the analysis of immigration statistics/files as well as network analytic approaches. It tries to analyse the network using the concept of social network analysis which has been developed in the Social Sciences. The research does not focus on individuals (all names will be replaced by numbers in any type of publication and analysis).

The project has been supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG; funding period: 2008-2010) and has partners in scientific institutions in five countries.

NOTE: In case any members of the community wish to know more about the project, give suggestions or share information which could be of interest to the team, they are requested to contact

Dr. Sebastian Henn
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Institute for Geosciences
Department of Economic Geography
Von-Seckendorff-Platz 4
06120 Halle (Saale)
E-Mail: Sebastian.henn@geo.uni-halle.de
Phone: +49-345-5526012