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.
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.
What we do with money and what money does to us
Exploring the intricate web of dependencies and emotions woven into the fabric of financial relationship
Launch of the BCDSS Library of Ancient Slavery
Get an insight of the launch of BCDSS' Library of Ancient Slavery.
Debt Bondage
Watch what playwright Natassa Sideri thinks about our reading and discussion evening on her play "Gefesselt"
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From Bonn to Melbourne (and Back)
Nov 24, 2023
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Through the Walls of Silence: Building Sensory Narratives and Countering History in Cameron Rowland’s “Amt 45i” in Frankfurt am Main
Nov 06, 2023
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Archives of Empires, Archives of Race: A Reflection on the 2023 Archives, Slavery & Race-Making Summer School
Oct 02, 2023
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Barbados is Not Flat: Reflections on Doing Research in the World's Youngest Republic
Sep 04, 2023
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Fighting Discrimination and Promoting Diversity at the BCDSS
Aug 07, 2023
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You can now watch a short video of the reading and discussion with journalist and writer Mareice Kaiser from 30 October 2023, held in cooperation with the Volkshochschule (‘Adult Education Centre’) Bonn.
We had the pleasure of hosting Mareice Kaiser for a captivating session on her latest book:
"How much? What we do with money and what money does to us"
Money, a subject often shrouded in silence and shame, took center stage as Mareice Kaiser delved into the intricacies of the financial narratives and emotions of individuals navigating the spectrum of wealth (and the lack of it).
December 2 marks the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. On this day in 1949, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. The main objective of this day is to eradicate modern forms of slavery, including human trafficking, sexual exploitation, child labour, forced marriage, and the coerced enlistment of children for use in armed conflict.
BCDSS Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Josef Köstlbauer's new article "Subjugation by Labelling: Analysing the Semantics of Subservience in a Fugitive Slave Case from Eighteenth-Century Germany" has been published in the special issue of the ÖZG (Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtsforschung).
BCDSS PhD Researcher Anas Ansar has recently written a review of the book "Waves of Upheaval in Myanmar: Gendered Transformations and Political Transitions" by Jenny Hedström and Elisabeth Olivius. It has been published by the International Quarterly of Asian Studies (IQAS) Autumn issue.
BCDSS Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Michael Zeuske's monograph, "Africa – Atlantic – America: Slavery and the Slave Trade in Africa, the Atlantic, the Americas, and Europe," was reviewed in the magazine Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift (Volume 82, Issue 2) by Ulrich van der Heyden.
You can find the article here.
Congratulations to BCDSS Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Bethany J. Walker on receiving the P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award for her outstanding contributions to the field of ancient Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean archaeology. The award ceremony will be held at the 2023 ASOR (American Society of Overseas Research) Annual Meeting in Chicago on 17 November.
Join us Wednesday, November 15th at 2pm CT (3pm ET) for a Facebook Live discussion and Q&A featuring former BCDSS Bonn-Yale-Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Fellow Frank J. Cirillo and his new LSU Press book, "The Abolitionist Civil War: Immediatists and the Struggle to Transform the Union."
Don’t miss our third and last film screening this year in cooperation with Kino in der Brotfabrik!
Contact Us
Managing Director: Jeannine Bischoff
Email: dependency@uni-bonn.de
Press and PR Manager: Cécile Jeblawei
Email: pr@dependency.uni-bonn.de
or pr-support@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Address
University of Bonn
Niebuhrstraße 5
53113 Bonn
Center for Advanced Studies
(Fellowship Programs)
Coordination: Sarah Dusend
Email: researchandstudy@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Deputy: Laura Hartmann
Email: l.hartmann@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Address
University of Bonn
Heussallee 18–24
53113 Bonn