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 "Strong Asymmetrical Dependency" (SAD) to explore all forms of bondages across time and space.
For more information on SAD, please check our Concept Paper.
A Response From Benjamin Etzold (BCDSS/BICC)
Bild © Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies / YouTube
Dependency Talkshop
Overcoming Violence: Coping Strategies & Support for Refugee Women
How do refugee women navigate a continuum of violence and breaking points of strong asymmetrical dependency? In our latest Dependency Talkshop session, an expert panel shared vital perspectives spanning Germany, East Africa, and the Middle East, highlighting the immense resilience of displaced women.
Find all the interviews here
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!
Dependency Blog
“Whose Prayers Did God Hear?”
Echoes of Questions from Cape Coast Castle and the 2024 World Christianity Conference in Ghana by David Smith
Children and Empire
A Report from Port Arthur, Lutruwita (Tasmania) by Joseph Biggerstaff
Through the Walls of Silence
Building Sensory Narratives and Countering History in Cameron Rowland’s “Amt 45i” in Frankfurt am Main by Sonia Tesfaye, Klaudia İnanç, Adiam Tadele Abadi, Prateeti Mukhopadhyay, Ishita Sarkar
Archives of Empires, Archives of Race
A Reflection on the 2023 Archives, Slavery & Race-Making Summer School by Amalia S. Levi
The World of Colonial Letters
by Mary Afolabi
as of 30.11.2025
News
Dr. Jutta Wimmler to Join Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin as Fellow of the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung
Congratulations to former BCDSS Research Group Leader Dr. Jutta Wimmler! She has been awarded a prestigious five-month Short-term Fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Sponsored by the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung, the fellowship will begin in September 2026 and will allow Dr. Wimmler to advance her independent research project on Das Königliche Lagerhaus Berlin 1713-1815: Ein Textilunternehmen und seine Angestellten in einer sich globalisierenden Welt
Book Talk "Indenture, Blackbirding, Women’s Cultures of Resistance in the Western Pacific"
Join us for the book talk "Indenture, Blackbirding, Women’s Cultures of Resistance in the Western Pacific" on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 18:00 at P26, co-organized with the Global Heritage Lab. The event is part of the BCDSS (IN-)DEPENDENT INSIGHTS reading and discussion series.
Screening and Discussion of the documentary "Viva Yurumanguí" (2026) by Emma Christopher & Sergio Leyva Seiglie
Join us on 25 June 2026 for the screening of Viva Yurumanguí (2026), a documentary by Emma Christopher and Sergio Leyva Seiglie, at Kino in der Brotfabrik, Bonn.
On the remote Pacific Coast of Colombia, the people of Yurumanguí palenque in Colombia have a 300-year chain of struggle stretching back to Africa. With their semi-autonomous territory invaded by armed groups, and threatened by external environmental destruction, they are still fighting for liberty hundreds of years after their ancestors fled enslavement. Film director and former BCDSS fellow Emma Christopher and fellow director and photographer Sergio Seiglie follow a group that is heading to Petronio Álvarez, the biggest Afro-Colombian music festival and competition, to perform their songs advocating for peace and to draw attention to the continued struggles of their communities.Following the screening, we will get a chance to talk to both directors (live) and to a Yurumanguí Community Leader (via whatsup from Colombia).
18:30 - Invitation to pre-screening drinks and snacks19:00 - Screening of Viva Yurumanguí20:30 - Talk
New Publication Co-Authored by Julia Hillner, Jamie Wood and Others on Namelessness in Late Antiquity
A new article co-authored by BCDSS Principal Investigator Prof. Julia Hillner (University of Bonn), former BCDSS Guest Researcher Jamie Wood (University of Lincoln), and others has been published in Medieval People (Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2026). The article examines the significance of namelessness as a historical and social phenomenon across Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, with direct relevance to the study of slavery and dependency.
Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner to Feature in ARTE Documentary on Emperor Constantine
Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner, Principal Investigator at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, appears as an on-screen expert in a new ARTE documentary on Emperor Constantine, airing on 30 May 2026 (20:15) on ARTE TV, and available to stream from the same date.
We Are Hiring: 3 Doctoral Positions/PhD (65%, TV-L E-13, for 4 years)
The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) invites applications for 3 Doctoral Positions/PhD (65%, TV-L E-13, for 4 years) in accordance with § 2 (1) WissZeitVG from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2030.
Understanding Dependency and Slavery Studies: A Multidisciplinary Approach
We invite you to join our five BCDSS pre-doctoral fellows for their joint presentation at Dies Academicus. Their short talks will offer a personal window into their scholarly journey: what first sparked their passion for their specific field, why it matters, and what they envision for the future of their research.
From the industrial heartlands of India to the oral traditions of the Gold Coast, these talks explore the multifaceted nature of strong asymmetrical dependency across time and geography.
International Workshop: Plantation Lives, Gender, and Material Culture
The workshop will be jointly held at the University of Bonn (Regina-Pacis-Weg 3, 53113 Bonn) and the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne (Cäcilienstraße 29-33, 50667 Cologne). The pre-conference book talk and exhibition opening are in cooperation with and will be hosted by the Global Heritage Lab (Poststraße 26, 53111 Bonn).
Events
Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Indranil Acharya
HYBRID event: On site in ...
04:15 PM - 05:15 PM
How does the Devadasi tradition stay active despite being declared illegal in India? In his lecture, Indranil Acharya will explore the inescapable dependency ...
Book Talk Indenture, Blackbirding, Women’s Cultures of Resistance
Global Heritage Lab ...
06:00 PM - 07:30 PM
The book talk, organized by the ARC discovery grant project “Unfreedom, Voices, Redress: Plantation Cultures of the Western Pacific” (in cooperation with the ...
Exhibition Opening with Jasmine Togo-Brisby: "Liquid Archive"
Global Heritage Lab ...
08:00 PM - 09:00 PM
What memories does water hold? Drawing on her own family history, Jasmine Togo-Brisby’s exhibition Liquid Archive explores memory, colonial histories, and ...
Int. Workshop "Plantation Lives, Gender, and Material Culture"
WED & THU: Senatssaal, ...
09:30 AM
During her lifetime, Emma Kolbe/Forsayth/Farrell (née Coe, 1850–1913), known as ‘Queen Emma of New Guinea’, was one of the most powerful private individuals ...
Juneteenth Lecture with Tsitsi Jaji: I, Too, Sing America
Universität Bonn, Am Hof ...
06:00 PM - 07:30 PM
This lecture commemorates Juneteenth as a living tradition of freedom and memory. Professor Tsitsi Jaji traces collaborations between Black poets and concert ...
Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Michael E. Sawyer
HYBRID event: On site in ...
04:15 PM - 05:45 PM
What is Black Event Theory (BET)? This opening lecture introduces BET from the ground up: its philosophical foundations, its departure from conventional ...
Contact Us
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
Coordination: Laura Hartmann
Email: l.hartmann@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Address
University of Bonn
Niebuhrstraße 5
53113 Bonn