Events - Other
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.
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).
With Sara Eriksson, Sarah Zimmerman, and Natalie Joy, three of this year's BCDSS Fellows will present their personal research projects at the Dies Academicus on 15 May 2024. They will provide interesting insights into their projects and discuss slavery and abolition in different temporal and geographical contexts. Sara Eriksson: "How to do an Archeology of Slavery: A Case Study from Ancient Greece" Prof. Dr. Sarah Zimmerman: "Gender, Slavery, and World Heritage on Gorée Island (Senegal)" Prof. Dr. Natalie Joy: "The Indian’s Cause: Native Americans and the American Antislavery Movement"
In this roundtable, a curator, an artist, and several researchers from the BCDSS will talk about visuality and dependency. It wants to explore the various ways in which visual cultures relate to ideas, institutions, and practices of bondage and their remembrance.
The history of slavery undergoes a massive paradigm shift in recent times. One aspect is how Slavery and Dependency Studies reconceptualize the history of enslavement and human trafficking against the background of strong asymmetrical dependency, such as Leibeigenschaft and serfdom. Comparative perspectives have therefore gained much significance and contributed enormously to the field. At the same time, global history has reached its preliminary peak - time to bring these two strands together as oftentimes scholars do both: case studies and global history. With Paulin Ismard and Benedetta Rossi, the bpb and the BCDSS welcome two of the most outstanding scholars both in the world history of slavery and dependency and comparative history. With Stephan Conermann and Joseph Biggerstaff we will host an intergenerational roundtable, moderated by Claudia Jarzebowski. Please register by June 2, 2024, using the link below.
"Der Müll bleibt. Müssen wir wirklich unaufhörlich natürliche Ressourcen in Konsumgüter umwandeln, die dann schnell entsorgt werden, um Platz für neue Produkte zu schaffen?" Wir freuen uns, Prof. Ulbe Bosma vom International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam wieder bei uns in Bonn begrüßen zu dürfen, nachdem er im letzten Jahr einige Monate bei uns am BCDSS zu Gast war. Alle sind herzlich willkommen. Eintritt ist frei! Bitte melden Sie sich über den Link zur VHS Bonn an (siehe unten). Der Vortrag findet auf Deutsch statt.
Discover a fascinating journey through time from Titan Arum to Giant Water Lilies, Cocoa to Tea – the history of botanical gardens and the scientific exploration of plant life is closely intertwined with colonial times, a historical aspect often forgotten today. The Botanical Gardens of the University of Bonn also hold colonial traces, as evident in the famous Titan Arum. Max Koernicke brought it to Bonn from Indonesia in 1934, funded by a scholarship from the former Reich Colonial Office, advocating for Germany to expand its colonial territories. During the garden tour, Dr. Cornelia Löhne, Scientific Director of the Botanical Gardens, and Dr. Karin Ladenburger, Green School, will highlight and explain these connections to colonialism, reflecting on their impact on today's society. Join the discussion afterward with Dr. Cornelia Löhne and Paulina Saerbeck from the initiative 'Bonn Postkolonial,' moderated by Alma Hannig, Collection Coordinator of the University of Bonn.
This round table event aims at interrogating the concept of the plantation and incorporate emergent theoretical insight on forms and practices of coerced labor, whether or not situated in the context of agricultural commodity or mineral extraction, which bears similarity to the plantation form. For some time scholars have pointed to the ways plantations in the Global South have been linked to the growth and expansion of modern capitalism at the cost of persistent underdevelopment. In the wake of the global turn, a linear narrative between the Caribbean and Northern Europe is being displaced by a far more decentered history. In turn, there is increasing emphasis on the afterlives of the plantation, from biopolitics to the racialization of labor. You are invited to share your research but are also more than welcome to listen in. If you want to join this round table on plantations and other forms of exploitative mass production, please get in touch with the organizers.
BCDSS fellow Prof. Dr. Christian Laes will give a talk on "Vita Aesopi: The Extraordinary Life of an Enslaved Person in Antiquity. A Socio-Cultural Commentary on a Unique Novel" at the Centre for the Classical Tradition at the University of Bonn.
Throughout modern history, Black writers and activists – George Padmore, Shirley Graham Du Bois, and May Ayim – have pursued radical projects pointing out the lack of basic human rights of marginalized communities. In this talk, Tiffany N. Florvil argues that these individuals and others have drawn upon their cross-cultural experiences to highlight how the intersecting oppressions of racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism have persisted throughout the twentieth century. Traversing geographical and aesthetic boundaries, these activists and intellectuals advocated for civil, social, and political change in their respective countries and beyond, advancing a cosmopolitan ethos that allowed them to offer new forms of knowledge and instigate change.
On 1 December 2025, the new German Court of Arbitration for Nazi-Looted Cultural Property replaced the former German "Advisory Commission". This new Court is a fundamental innovation in the process of restitution of Nazi-looted art under the 1998 Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art. The new Court will decide the case on specially designed substantive rules: the "Assessment Framework for Examining and Deciding on the Treatment of Nazi-looted Property". The Netherlands have also seen significant developments in recent years. The assessment framework was revised following the so-called Kohnstamm Report of 2020 and, just recently, in March 2026, another report with recommendations on the future of "Heirless Jewish Looted art in the NK-collection" was issued. These recent developments in Germany and the Netherlands will be put in comparative perspectives in a panel discussion with Dr. Tabitha Oost (University of Amsterdam) and Prof. Dr. Matthias Weller (University of 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. Join us for the Film Screening and Discussion of "Viva Yurumanguí" (2026) by Emma Christopher and Sergio Leyva Seiglie at Brotfabrik in Bonn. From 18:30, we'll have drinks and snacks, followed by the screening of Viva Yurumanguí (OmU) at 19:00, and concluding with the talk at 20:30.
How do workers form and shape places and spaces of re/production in today’s capitalism? This is the central question of the recently published book “Arbeitswelten” (Doutch/Engelhardt/López/Premchander/Wenner, 2026) that introduces perspectives of Labour Geography as a distinct, critical lens within German-speaking academia. The edited volume centres around the everyday lives of workers in contested worlds of labour and offers a holistic, reflexive view of labour as both subject and actor. Thereby this first comprehensive Labour Geography collection in German-speaking academia opens and invites interdisciplinary dialogue. At the book launch, Anne Engelhardt and Michaela Doutch, two of the editors, first introduce and frame the volume’s overarching contribution, while Benjamin Etzold and the editors themselves spotlight their respective chapters, illustrating the merits (and pitfalls) of Labour Geography as a critical research perspective.
Prof. Dr. Christian Williams (Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of the Free State, South Africa) will share about his new book, CHRISTIAN FAITH AND NAMIBIAN LIBERATION: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC BIOGRAPHY OF SALATIEL AILONGA. The book employs the research approach of ethnographic biography to illuminate how Christian communities shaped the trajectory of Namibia's struggle for independence through the life of a refugee pastor, Salatiel Ailonga. Ethnographic biography combines oral history interviews with personal archives and participant observation of quotidian social events to explore how an individual's lived experiences connect to broader socio-cultural processes. The presentation and discussion session will thus provide an opportunity to reflect on the methodological, theoretical, and practical challenges of this approach to life-writing. Registration for post-event dinner (at participants' own expense) by 31 August: kuhnert@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Join the Wilberforce Institute and the BCDSS as Professor William Pettigrew, Dr Nicholas Radburn, and Dr Lila Chambers discuss the Register of British Slave Traders project, its findings on the merchants who financed and organised Britain's slave trade and what insights this allows on the lives of the enslaved people. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Development of Europe (TASTADE) is a major global scientific collaboration, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), and led by Professor William Pettigrew. Theproject also features in the BBC 2 documentary series Finding Britain's Slave Traders.
Talk by Peter Müller, President of the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-Looted Cultural Property: On December 1, 2025, the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-Looted Cultural Property began its work. Its establishment is based on an Administrative Agreement between the federal government, the states, and municipal umbrella organizations. It operates on the basis of arbitration rules created specifically for the subject matter of the proceedings and renders decisions in accordance with specially created substantive rules, the “Assessment Framework.” In his presentation, Peter Müller will outline the opportunities and challenges facing the new institution. Following this, selected questions will be explored in greater depth during a panel discussion. Prof. Dr. Matthias Weller of the University of Bonn will serve as discussion partner. Afterwards, the audience is cordially invited to ask questions and participate in the discussion.
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Join us for the upcoming exhibition opening of "Tobacco Echoes" at the Global Heritage Lab. It brings together works by artists Ngozi Ajah Schommers and Etinosa Yvonne, exploring tobacco, labour, care, memory, and colonial trade in Nigeria. Focusing on Oyo State, the exhibition traces relationships between people and plant across generations. The third chapter of Plant Knowledge, it examines tobacco’s entangled histories of trade, labour, healing, pleasure, and illness. Artist talks, workshops, and panel discussions invite exchange between art, academia, and society.