Exhibiting: The History of Anticolonial Thought in Germany since the Nineteenth Century

German colonialism as a form of rule and a concrete policy of expansion was limited to the era of the German Empire between the 1880s and the end of World War I. Despite the comparative brevity of this time period, so-called protectorates were acquired in China, on the African continent, and on entire island groups in the South Pacific. Foreign colonial rule in these regions took a broad range of forms, including violent conquest, economic exploitation, forced religious conversions, and cultural oppression, as well as the genocide of Herero and Nama in so-called German South West Africa, present-day Namibia. Colonial ideas and drives to power existed long before the foundation of the German Empire. But criticisms of colonial plans also have a long history, extending not only over the past few years, but reaching all the way back to the beginnings of colonial ambitions. This seminar will focus on the various forms these criticisms of colonialism took in German history and the actors involved, who came from very diverse political, intellectual, social, and religious milieus. One of the focal points will be on Jewish voices critical of colonialism, whose positions were formulated in the context of debates on assimilation, Zionism, and universalism in the era of nation building through to the aftermath of the Jewish catastrophe. The seminar will aim to uncover continuities and ruptures of anticolonial thought from the foundation of the German Empire through World War I and the Weimar Republic to debates ensuing after 1945. The seminar will also probe the possibilities of conceptualizing an exhibition on anticolonial thought in the nineteenth century.

Participation is conditional on the willingness to hold a presentation. Topics will be assigned in a digital introductory session on 20 May 2022 (11.15 a.m. to 12.45 p.m.). The seminar is planned to take place in person under observance of all applicable Covid rules in two blocks on 3 June 2022 und 17 June 2022 (on both occasions from 9.15 a.m. to 4.45 p.m.). A digital conclusory meeting will take place on 1 July 2022 (11.15 a.m. to 12.45 p.m.).

Literature: The seminar reader will be made available at the beginning of the semester.