Events Archive
Join us on 25 March, 2025 for the screening of 'Matses Muxan Akadakit', a captivating movie about the Matis tattoo celebration directed by the indigenous Matis people. The first training courses for Matis filmmakers began in 2015 through audiovisual workshops organized by the Manaus Indian Museum and the Indigenous Work Centre (CTI). On that occasion, several young people were chosen by the dadasibo (the elders) to represent their people through this art. In 2018, the Matis filmmakers made several short films about the cultural importance of the tedinte (the blowgun). The film about the tattoo festival represents a new stage in the training process of these young filmmakers. It was entirely filmed and documented by them, who decided to sign it as a collective work, directed by the “Matis people”. The screening will be followed by a public discussion with the film directors. To register, please send an email to Taynã Tagliati by 21 March.
Amid escalating geopolitical instability, authoritarian retrenchments, and the deepening securitisation of knowledge-making, this conference critically examines how entrenched knowledge dependencies continue to shape practices of future-making—and how more equitable futures might still be (re)imagined. From the weaponisation of AI to the erosion of indigenous, activist, and academic freedoms, and the constraints of donor-driven agendas, we ask: How is knowledge circulation mediated? Under what conditions have alternative epistemic futures emerged—in the longue durée and within present formations?
Enjoy Neyen Pailamilla’s artwork for one last time and meet the artist in the exhibition. The artist talk will be joined by Joanne Rodriguez, the co-curator of the exhibition Knowing Plants – Ecologies of Memory and Practice.
The workshop is sponsored by the "Transdisciplinary Research Area 5 - Presents Pasts" and the “Bonn Centre for Dependency and Slavery Studies” of the University of Bonn. Funded as part of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments. No registration needed for in person attendance
Geliebte Sklavinnen. Deutsche Kaufleute und ihre versklavten Frauen in der Second Slavery Noch bis um 1860 spielte sich die breite globale Wirtschaftsdynamik des globalen Kapitalismus vor allem in Kolonien oder ehemaligen Kolonien ab. Viele deutschsprachige Männer drängten damals in diese "Erste Welt" des Wirtschaftswachstums, der Modernität und des Profits. Diese jungen Männer konnten, falls sie nicht durch Sklavenhandel reich geworden waren, nicht in die traditionelle Land- und Sklavenbesitzerelite einheiraten, weil sie dort als Emporkömmlinge galten. So lebten sie meist mit "Sklavinnen-Geliebten" zusammen. Diese Sklavinnen waren fast immer sehr jung und überlebten ihre "geliebten Eigentümer". Die meisten dieser Sklavinnen wurden von ihrem Eigentümer nach dessen Tod testamentarisch frei gelassen und bekamen einen Teil des Erbes - mit dem sie selbst wiedeurm SklavInnen kauften und zu SklavenhalterInnen sowie zu Führungsfiguren einer jeweils lokalen farbigen Sklavenhalterelite wurden.
Gemeinsam mit renommierten Expert*innen aus Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft gehen wir im Semester wöchentlich auf eine DenkReise zu wünschenswerten Zukünften unterschiedlicher Lebensbereiche. Unsere Gäste stellen ihre Forschung vor und diskutieren mit Studierenden, Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen und der interessierten Öffentlichkeit. Am Ende des Semesters folgt nach den Reisen im Denken eine gemeinsame Reise als Exkursion zu einem thematisch einschlägigen Ort.
Resilience has been defined by the American Psychological Association as "the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility to external and internal demands." (Kirmayer et al, 2007). This public talk will share insights from research on the history of childhood in plantation societies in the eighteenth century. Children and young adults in plantation societies in the Caribbean routinely experienced and witnessed traumatizing levels of violence as they were employed in industrial working conditions. Less well-documented by historians are the strategies developed in slave societies to respond to these adverse conditions. How did enslaved children navigate the traumatizing social and physical environment of the plantation, and what outcomes emerged after slavery was abolished? Finally, what lessons can we take away from this very challenging chapter in modern history?
Join us for The International Lunch Seminar titled "Bondage, Resistance, and Violence in Angola, 1600s-1880s: Centering Women in Histories of Slavery," happening on Friday, June 6, 2025, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM at Heussallee 18-24 (room 1.100). Prof. Dr. Mariana P. Candido, Winship Distinguished Research Professor and Director of the Institute of African Studies at Emory University, will discuss the significant roles of women in Angola's history of slavery, focusing on their experiences with bondage, resistance, and violence. This seminar is organized by Ana Lucia Araujo, Professor of History at Howard University and Heinz Heinen Fellow at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies. This seminar will be held in person only. Attendants must email Professor Araujo (see below) no later than May 30 to get the paper. All participants must read the paper and come prepared for discussion.
Walther Maradiegue and Sophia Labadi will discuss the sonic afterlives of heritagization in an indigenous Peruvian community, analyzing a Cañaris protest against the government's denial of their existence and land rights, arguing they challenge state recognition through performance and sound. The protest reenacts Tupac Amaru II’s 1781 execution alongside the state-recognized ‘Danza de los Guerreros Cascabeleros.’
We are pleased to invite you to a keynote lecture by Indrani Chatterjee from the University of Virginia as part of the conference Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies: Perspectives from Asia, Past & Present. Chatterjee’s lecture, titled "Intersecting Subjections in South Asian Pasts," will begin with an introduction by Dr. Emma Kalb and will be followed by a reception at 18:00 CET. Please send an email to asiaconference@dependency.uni-bonn.de in order to register for the event.
'Justice for the individual and society' Prof. Dr. Claudia Jarzebowski will take part in the panel discussion of the Godesberg Talks, alongside Dominik Pinsdorf, honorary judge at the Bonn District Court and holder of the Federal Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Jens Groß, drama director and Pastor Dr. Gianluca Carlin The demand for justice permeates our lives - from the schoolyard to inheritance. But what does justice mean when people's perceptions of it are so different? People have always fought for their rights and for what they consider to be fair. Every crisis raises the question of a fair society and the protection of our basic rights. The tension between individual feelings and social norms continues to shape our coexistence to this day. The event will be moderated by Dr. Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu
Join us on April 29th when Theresa Wobbe, BCDSS alumna, will discuss the recently published book “Sklaverei, Freiheit und Arbeit: Soziohistorische Beiträge zur Rekonfiguration von Zwangsarbeit,” edited by herself, Léa Renard, and Marianne Braig. The contributions in this volume systematically draw on Orlando Patterson's sociology of slavery and the European ideal of freedom. Against this background, the authors argue for a socio-historical approach to capture the dynamics of the different dependencies of slavery and labour. Theresa Wobbe will be joined by Claudia Jarzewobski, BCDSS Professor for Early Modern History and Dependency Studies, and Eva Marie Lehner, BCDSS Postdoctoral Researcher. During the book discussion, Theresa Wobbe, Claudia Jarzebowski and Eva Marie Lehner will aim to shed light on the intertwining of labour, freedom, and slavery by examining labour relations based on violence and coercion.
Join us on March 10th, 2025, from 14:00-16:00, for what is promising to be a powerful discussion on overcoming challenges related to gender identities within academia. The event aims to highlight the increasing presence of women in academia, demonstrate their strength and resilience in overcoming obstacles, and inspire younger academics who are embarking on their journeys in higher education. With Prof. Dr. Chioma Daisy Onyige and Prof. Dr. Natalie Joy, we have two senior academics at the BCDSS of international calibre, who are happy to share their personal experiences. They will be joined by two equally remarkable researchers and alumnae of the Center for International Development (ZEF): Dr. Rabia Chaudhry and Dr. Dennis Avilés Irahola. The discussion is moderated by PD Dr. Eva Youkhana (Senior Researcher, ZEF) and Cécile Jeblawei (Press & PR Manager, BCDSS). We call on representatives of all genders to take part. Men are particularly welcome to join the conversation!
Workshop "Slave Labor, Strong Asymmetric Dependency and Social Mobility in the Transition from Slavery to Freedom in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Cuba 1820-1900" The workshop will focus on three areas (based on Research Area D "Work and Spatiality" of the BCDSS): 1) The work of slaves, former slaves as well as other people in strong asymmetrical dependencies in the world's largest sugar factories in the Cienfuegos region (before and after formal abolition); 2) Memory/Heritage of Slavery in three dimensions: people (Tomás Terry), current representation in museums, life histories and family histories in one of the sugar factories near Cienfuegos and in the town itself; 3) Historiography of slavery in Latin America and (possible) social mobility during an era of the great anti-colonial revolutions in Spanish-America and the Caribbean (1790-1902). - in person event only - Find the program below. To register, please click on the link under "Registration/Ticket".
In light of recent conceptual discussions on intersectionality and (im)mobility in Forced Migration Studies, the micro-sociology and embodiment of violence in Peace and Conflict Studies as well as precarity and strong asymmetrical dependencies in Dependency and Slavery Studies, the workshop invites selected scholars from these interlinked fields to jointly reflect on the intersections between gender, violence and dependencies.
This roundtable convenes experts from ZEF/Global Heritage Lab, BICC and the BCDSS to discuss the historical and contemporary impacts of extractivism across a range of global contexts and natural resources. Central questions to be discussed will entail the violent colonial origins of resource extraction, current conflicts and consequences for local communities, and possible ways into the future. Framed in a larger context of environmental (in)justice, and attending to matters of ethics, sustainability and dependency, the discussants will bring to the table their respective disciplinary backgrounds, spanning governance and conflict studies, development politics, the environmental humanities and dependency studies.
...The Influence of Intersectional Identities, Gendered Challenges and ‘Tropes of Hardship’ on Ethnographic Research. Institutional training seldom prepares early-career researchers and students sufficiently for the challenges ethnographers may face during empirical research. Too little attention is paid to the significance of the researchers’ and the interlocutors’ intersectional identities and the impact they have on the research process. Therefore, in this talk I focus on the specific challenges of ethnographic research as a gendered and embodied practice. I address the dynamic power relations between ethnographers, interlocutors and gatekeepers during anthropological fieldwork and ethnographic interviews. I illustrate how gendered, racialized and nationalized bodies and identities influence fieldwork experience, relationships and the collection and interpretation of research data.
This workshop is organised in honour of two medieval historians – Alheydis Plassmann and Björn Weiler – who spent their careers championing comparative approaches to the political culture of high medieval Europe (c. 1000-1300). Compared to earlier centuries, historians tend to remain in their own national academic ‘sub-tribes’ for this part of the Middle Ages, a consequence of the sheer variety and amount of evidence that scholars have access to from the turn of the millennium, but also of a legacy of national historical narratives, inherited from the nineteenth century, concerned with the development of the nation state. The workshop will aim to honour the legacy of these two historians by bringing together established and early-career scholars to consider how we can further our understanding of the relationship between power and dependency in medieval politics beyond a national framework.
In his talk "Intersectionality and Asymmetrical Dependencies: Theoretical Explorations and Case Studies in Religion" in the Gender Group Colloquium at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), David B. Smith will explore new possibilities for deploying intersectionality theory in asymmetrical dependency research (ADr).
The purpose of this workshop is to explore the relationship between lost documents and archives and Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies (SADs) in post-Roman Europe and the Mediterranean through uniting the research of the BCDSS with the international working group on 'Lost Documents and Archives in the Middle Ages.' Both research groups take as a working hypothesis that archives of SADs privilege records of those in power and aim to investigate how we can use "evidence of absence" as historical evidence. The exchange will focus on the question of lost documents and non-elites, asking 1) how patterns of loss shape our evidence of non-elites, and 2) how those patterns may nonetheless contribute to our understanding of non-elites, especially those under the heaviest conditions of dependence.