Overview of Second Phase: 2026-2032
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© BCDSS
Additional 7 Years of Funding Secured
Read More
© BCDSS
Overview of Second Phase: 2026-2032
Additional 7 Years of Funding Secured

Welcome to the Cluster of Excellence at the  
Bonn Center for Dependency & Slavery Studies 

"Beyond Slavery and Freedom: 
Asymmetrical Dependencies in Pre-Modern Societies" 

We are a research cluster within the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. In May 2025, we were awarded a further seven years of funding by the German Research Foundation. Hence, as of January 2026, we will be starting our SECOND FUNDING PERIOD (2026-2032).

We investigate profound social dependencies such as slavery, serfdom, debt bondage, and other forms of permanent dependency across epochs, regions and cultures. 

Our focus lies "beyond slavery and freedom", i.e., we aim to overcome the binary opposition of "free" and "unfree". 

Instead, we propose the new key concept of "asymmetrical dependency" to explore all forms of bondages across time and space.       

BCDSS 2024: A Year in Highlights

Bild © Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies / YouTube

BCDSS 2024: A Year in Highlights

2024 was filled with milestones. Watch our highlights video to see what we accomplished together – thank you for being part of our journey!

Enmeshed & Entwined: FABRICS OF DEPENDENCY

Bild © Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies / YouTube

BCDSS exhibition launches digitally!

What can textiles – coarse cloth or fine silks, work and household linen, clothes in different styles and fashions – tell us about different forms of dependency: enslavement, serfdom, forced labour, or in our own day, factory work in the Global South?

Visit our digital exhibition ‘Enmeshed and Entwined: Fabrics of Dependency/Verstrickt und Verwoben: Texturen der Abhängigkeit’ and let our "quilted narratives" help you explore these and further questions.

News
© BCDSS
International Day of Education: Making Learning Accessible Through Inclusion
On the International Day of Education (24 January), the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies highlights how inclusion and accessibility shape teaching, research, and academic life. Through its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion framework (DEI), the BCDSS works to ensure that everyone can learn, participate, and thrive.
Jan 30, 2026
© BCDSS
New Publication in DSS Series - Volume 27 Out Now!
Congratulations to BCDSS Research Group Leader Sinah Kloß, BCDSS Affiliate Ulrike Schmieder and Andrea Gremels on their new publication Competing Memories of Enslavement, Emancipation and Indentureship - The Politics of Remembering in the Caribbean, Volume 27 in the DSS Series.
Jan 26, 2026
© BCDSS
New Publication (Book Review) by Diego Schibelinski
In this book review, Diego Schibelinski discusses the history of slave ship crews and the commodification of labor during the illegal trade by reviewing Luis Nicolau Parés's biography of Joaquim de Almeida (Zoki Zata). The book traces Almeida's transition from an enslaved child in Brazil to a powerful member of the Atlantic mercantile elite.
Jan 21, 2026
© BCDSS
New Article by Sinah Kloß
Congratulations to Research Group Leader Sinah Kloß, whose article "Skin" has been published in “Key Terms for Material Religion 2025” in Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief.
Jan 12, 2026
© BCDSS
Out Now: DEPENDENT, Issue 12: Taking Stock & Looking Ahead
We are pleased to announce that Issue 12 of our Cluster Magazine DEPENDENT, Echoes and Horizons: Taking Stock & Looking Ahead is now available.
Dec 22, 2025
© bcdss
Congratulations on a new publication in Andean Ethnohistory
We congratulate Danitza Márquez Ramírez on the publication of a new issue of Notas de Antropología de las Américas focusing on Andean Ethnohistory, published on 19 December 2025.
Dec 22, 2025
© BCDSS
New Special Issue on Gender & Segregation Published in Gender & History
A new special issue of Gender & History on Gender & Segregation has just been published. The issue is co-edited by Lisa Hellman and Julia Hillner, alongside Daniel J. R. Grey and Rachel Jean-Baptiste, and builds on discussions from a conference hosted at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies in April 2024.
Dec 19, 2025
© BCDSS
End of Phase 1 - Thank You!
As we conclude the first funding phase of the Excellence Cluster, we sincerely thank everyone who has helped shape the BCDSS over the past seven years. The Cluster has thrived through your dedication, expertise, and collaboration! You have strengthened our community of researchers and learners and inspired us to build on this momentum in the second funding phase. With heartfelt thanks and warm regards, Your BCDSS Team
Dec 19, 2025
Events
© Interaktiv GmbH
Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Workshop: Collaborative & Intercultural Methodological Approaches
Niebuhrstraße 5, 53113 ...
09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Throughout the day, participants will be invited to share their reflections on their own research practices, whether based on collaborative projects, ...

Contact Us 

Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS)

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Managing Director: Sarah Dusend
Email: dependency@uni-bonn.de

Press and PR Manager: Cécile Jeblawei
Email: pr@dependency.uni-bonn.de

Address

University of Bonn
Niebuhrstraße 5
53113 Bonn  

BCDSS Fellowship Programs

Address

University of Bonn
Niebuhrstraße 5
53113 Bonn