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News from the BCDSS
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News
BCDSS Hoodies & T-Shirts are here!
You can now try them on at Niebuhrstraße.
New Publication "Dependent: Global Perspectives on the History of Resources and Slavery"
In the volume, edited by Martin Bentz, Nikolai Grube and Patrick Zeidler, seven of our cluster members illuminate "strong asymmetrical dependencies" related to fabrics from a cross-cultural and diachronic perspective. However, they also go beyond the resource of textile and examine the diverse spectrum of human dependency relationships in connection with basic foodstuffs and luxury foods. It is the companion volume to the BCDSS exhibition.
Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink!
We are very happy to announce that BCDSS Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink is part of a joint research project entitled „Unfreedom, Voices, Redress: Plantation Cultures of the Western Pacific“ that has been granted 882,000 AUSD by the Australian Research Council!
Chief Investigators of the four-year project are Professor Penny Edmonds, of Flinders University, and Professor Deirdre Coleman, of University of Melbourne.
Professor Dr. Pia Wiegmink is Partner Investigator alongside Dr. Margaret Mishra (University of the South Pacific), Dr. Oliver Lueb (Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Cologne), and Ms Imelda Miller (Queensland Museum).
a new Publication by Michael Zeuske
Prof. Dr. Michael Zeuske presents the history of enslaved people in Africa, the Atlantic, and the Americas, with a focus on Latin America and the early capitalist-slave societies such as Cuba, Brazil, and the United States, which were based on what is now known as "second slavery." It examines how this history connects to the emergence of the term "Afro," highlighting that, although often considered an American creation, it is, in fact, of Cuban origin.
Dies Academicus: Enmeshed & Entwined: Fabrics of Dependency
Exhibition curator Dr. Beatrix Ihde-Hoffmann will give a short introduction - in German - to the current BCDSS exhibition, on display at the Bonn University and State Library - ULB - until 20 December 2024.
Dies Academicus: Slavery and Abolition in Global Perspective
Marking the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December), Henriette Rødland, Sean Kelley and Bahar Bayraktaroğlu will present their research perspectives on abolition at the University of Bonn's Dies Academicus on 4 December 2024 from 14:15 - 15:45.
Enmeshed & Entwined: FABRICS OF DEPENDENCY launches digitally!
To find out what to expect, watch our three-minute exhibition trailer filmed during the setup of the exhibition.
Podcast Series by Research Group "Mutual Dependencies and Normative Production in Africa"
The documentary podcast series by BCDSS Research Group Leader Dr. Raquel Razente Sirotti and her PhD Researchers Karolyne Mendes Mendonça Moreira and Mauro Armando Adelino Manhanguele from the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory (MPILHLT) in Frankfurt started last week.
Film Screening & Discussion: DESIRE LINES
On November 14th, we will be carrying on with the "WHO'S GOT THE POWER?" film and discussion series in cooperation with Förderverein Filmkultur at Kino in der Brotfabrik, Bonn!
In time for Transgender Week, we will be screening DESIRE LINES, an award-winning hybrid documentary that sets out to reframe transmasculine sexuality and history.
Congratulations to Christine Mae Sarito
Our PhD researcher has won the 2024 Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award!
Resource Extractivism and Environmental (In)justice
Roundtable Discussion at Volkshochschule Bonn in cooperation with BCDSS, BICC, IISG, ZEF
The Strong Asymmetrical Dependency Studies Reader, First Edition
The most comprehensive collection of texts on Strong Asymmetrical Dependency Studies.
Guest Presentation: “Slaves wanted!” Wissens- und Techniktransfers zwischen Karibik und Westafrika um 1700
Lukas Wissel and Jutta Wimmler will be speaking in Klaus Weber and Andreas Bähr's research colloquium at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) on November 26th.
Guest Lecture: „Diese vorgeblichen Weisen“ - Der Afrikareisebericht des Abbé Proyart (1776) als Aufklärungskritik
Dr. Jutta Wimmler will join Professor Kim Siebenhüner's Colloquium at the University of Jena for a lecture on January 25th, 2025.
Comparative approaches to power and dependency in the High Middle Ages
Call for Papers & Workshop
BCDSS Exhibition Launch
We are delighted to announce the opening of our BCDSS Exhibition "Verstrickt und Verwoben: Texturen der Abhängigkeit"/"Enmeshed and Entwined: Fabrics of Dependency" on Tuesday, 29 October 2024, at 18:00 at the Bonn University and State Library (ULB).
The Launch is followed by a Semester Kick-off Reception at the BCDSS (Niebuhrstr. 5) at 19:30. Everyone is welcome!
Please note: registration for both parts of the event is required by 22 October (link below) as there is only limited space!
New publication by Reasearch Group "Archdepth"
With contributions by Christian Mader, Claire Conrad, Tamia Viteri Toledo, Paul Graf and Hanna Schubert
Lunch Talk with the editors “Beyond Slavery and Freedom”
Lunch Talk with the editors and authors of the Special Issue “Beyond Slavery and Freedom”, published in the Journal of Global Slavery.
CfP: Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies - Perspectives from Asia, Past & Present
Since the global turn, research about strong asymmetrical dependencies across time and space (among which, but not limited to slavery, bondage, labor and coercion) has greatly expanded both conceptually and geographically. Asia, however defined, is certainly not the blind spot it once was in labor and slavery studies anymore. Yet, despite the pluralization recently generated by global labor and global slavery studies, Asia still remains marginal in many respects. Slavery in early-modern Asia, to mention only one example, is increasingly studied through the lens of European archives, and through European terms of what this slavery entailed, leaving aside the study of forms of exploitation and forced displacement that took place before, beside and beyond the European presence in Asia. What seems to be particularly missing in current discussions is an emic perspective from Asia; that is to say, a more granular and accurate view of the practices, norms and their evolutions, from existing vernacular sources (written, oral and material) and from the actor’s experiences, categories and worldviews. What also seems to be missing is a genuine accounting of Asian historiographies, as well as a proper assessment of the legacies and memories of these diverse phenomena in the contemporary societies of Asia.
New article by Pia Wiegmink
In a Special Issue on Slavery and colonialism in German cultural memory
Romani Feminisms: Intersectionality in the Context of Dependencies
Our next conference takes place in Niebuhrstr. 5, on September 10.
Congratulations to Magnus Goffin on the Publication of his Dissertation
We are thrilled to congratulate BCDSS PhD Researcher Magnus Goffin on the publication of his dissertation!
New Publication by David B. Smith
Congratulations to BCDSS PhD Researcher David B. Smith, whose chapter, "'This is my Story, this is my Song:' Queer Presbyterians, Provocative Questions, Practical Politics, and a Case for Church History in the Development of Theologies of Justice" will be published in the book Awake Emerging, and Connected: Meditations on Justice from a Missing Generation edited by Dr. Victoria Turner (Ripon College Cuddesdon) and published by SCM Press.
David Smith's partly autobiographical and theologically constructive piece reflects on the role of history and historiography in the development of theologies of justice. It does so by charting the way historical patterns of discernment shaped the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its fifty-year struggle over the inclusion, ordination, and marriage of LGBTQIA+ Christians in that religious community.
Our Heartfelt Condolences
It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Professor Trevor Burnard, director of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull.
Out now: DEPENDENT, Issue 9
The online version of our most recent DEPENDENT issue is out! You can download it from our website (see below).The print copy will be available from the beginning of August.
Stellenangebot/Job Offer: SHK/WHF (IT)
Das Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies sucht zum schnellstmöglichen Zeitpunkt eine Studentische oder Wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft zur Unterstützung im Bereich IT für 12–19 Std. pro Woche.
The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies is looking for a student assistant (SHK, in the BA programme) or research assistant (WHF, in the MA programme) to support the IT sector for 12–19 hours per week as soon as possible.
Children, Dependency, and Emotions in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800: Archival and Visual Narratives
Annual Event Series on Gender and Intersectionality
New Article by Dr. Josef Köstlbauer
"Magdalena More's Complaint." In Journal of Moravian History
Maroon Ecologies, Maroon Imaginaries
This workshop traces alternative Maroon worlds and worldviews along two specific lines of inquiry, ecology and imagination. Convening scholars from across disciplines (including geography, archaeology, anthropology, literary history and sound studies), we will probe the different environmental and cultural contexts of Marronage. Our goal is to engage with Marronage as an ecological, political and creative practice, underlining how Black ways of engaging with the environment provide a conceptual and practical reorientation to anthropogenic climate change.
THE EMPTY GRAVE: Film Screening & Discussion
We are carrying on with the "WHO'S GOT THE POWER?" series in cooperation with Förderverein Filmkultur at Brotfabrik, Bonn!
Our second film this year, THE EMPTY GRAVE (original: 'DAS LEERE GRAB'), a German-Tanzanian co-production by Agnes Lisa Wegner and Cece Mlay, was launched at the Berlinale Film Festival earlier this year. It addresses the legacy of the German colonial rule in Tanzania: the search for the physical remains of family members, the intergenerational trauma, the quest for justice, the question of future coexistence.
Everyone is warmly welcome to join us for the post-screening talk and reception with drinks and fingerfood in the informal setting of Studio 5.
On the panel representing the BCDSS:
Mary Aderonke Afolabi-Adeolu, PhD ResearcherBoluwatife Akinro, PhD ResearcherDr. Mercy Mashingaidze, Postdoctoral Researcher & LecturerTIME: 4 July 202420:00: Screening21:30: Discussion/ReceptionLOCATION: Kino in der Brotfabrik, Kreuzstraße 16, 53225 BonnREGISTRATION: To help us plan, kindly register for the discussion/reception by 3 July (below).
New Article by David B. Smith
Congratulations to PhD Researcher David B. Smith, whose article "'An Open Wound in the Body…' A 'Dependency Turn' in Ecumenical Discourse on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery" has just been published in The Ecumenical Review.
New Website: World of Roman Bonn
We are pleased to announce that our Tour of Roman Bonn now has its own website - the World of Roman Bonn!
World Day Against Child Labour
June 12 marks the 'World Day Against Child Labor'. It aims to catalyze the growing global effort to eliminate child labor.
Roundtable Discussion: “The Visual Archives of Slavery: Legacies, Practices and Debates”
Researchers at the BCDSS work with and on visual material in their research on slaveries and dependencies. In this roundtable, a curator, an artist, and several researchers from the BCDSS will talk about visuality and dependency.
New Book: RESIST! The Art of Resistance by Ricardo Márquez García together with N. Snoep, V. Marušić & L. Hauth
By PhD Researcher Ricardo Márquez García together with Nanette Snoep, Vera Marušić and Lydia Hauth
Workshop: Exploring the Atlantic and Asian Dutch Empire and its Archives
Organized by Eva Marie Lehner (BCDSS) and Hanna te Velde (IISH)
Identities in History - Guest Lecture by Prof. Kwame Anthony Appiah
We are pleased to announce that the renowned philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah will give a guest lecture at the BCDSS on 27 June 2024 titled "Identities in History." Appiah's lecture will be based on his latest book The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity (2018).
Call for Papers
Recent cataclysms in Eastern Europe prove glaringly just how important it is to continuously discuss and analyze asymmetrical dependencies in premodern inner Eurasian connecting spaces north and east of the great mountain ranges (e.g., Carpathians, Caucasus, Pamir, Tien Shan, Altai, etc.), now in large parts claimed by Russia.
The conference reaches beyond what is now Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, encouraging scientific debates across regional and temporal disciplinary boundaries with area studies globally within the framework of the histories of entanglements and memory
Juneteenth Lecture by Charmaine A. Nelson
The scholarship on transatlantic slavery has long benefited from the often-exhaustive data published in the fugitive slave archive. Ubiquitous throughout the transatlantic world, fugitive slave advertisements were commonly placed by enslavers seeking to recapture enslaved people who resisted through flight. Such notices commonly provided specific, invasive detail about an enslaved person’s body, dress, skills, languages, and even gestures and mannerisms. Although enslaved females standardly comprised a smaller percentage of runaways, nevertheless, the fugitive notices that do exist for female freedom seekers shed light on their lives and experiences. Through an examination of the fugitive slave archive and other sources, this lecture seeks to fill some of the scholarly gaps on the experiences of enslaved females of African descent in Canada. More specifically, it will offer some distinctions between the lives and experiences of enslaved females in slave minority (temperate) and slave majority (tropical) sites in the British transatlantic world.
New BCDSS Discussion Paper Out Now!
The third BCDSS Discussion Paper on "Asymmetrical Dependencies and Intersectionality" has just been published.
The Discussion Papers are dedicated to discussing the theoretical side of "strong asymmetrical dependency." They serve as impulses for researchers in and beyond the BCDSS who intend to work with the new key concept of strong asymmetrical dependency.
Workshop: Why Words Matter in Academia: Challenges and obstacles, policies and solutions
BCDSS' Translator & Academic Editor Imogen Herrad and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator Dima Al Munajed will host this workshop for the University of Bonn's Diversity Days 2024.
New Book of DSS Series Published by De Gruyter
Narratives of Dependency: Textual Representations of Slavery, Captivity, and Other Forms of Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies
Edited by Prof. Dr. Elke Brüggen and Prof. Dr. Marion Gymnich. This book is part of the book series Dependency & Slavery Studies.
Dies Academicus: Case Studies in the History of Slavery and Abolition
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.
"Journal of Global Slavery" Special Issue: Beyond Slavery and Freedom
The newest issue of the Journal of Global Slavery includes the Special Issue “Beyond Slavery and Freedom?”, edited by BCDSS members Pia Wiegmink and Jutta Wimmler. The Special Issue demonstrates the variety of research done at the cluster. The Introduction is available as open access.
"Migration, Slavery and Commodification", Michael Zeuske's contribution to The Oxford Handbook of Commodity History
Congratulations to Michael Zeuske, Principal Investigator at the BCDSS, who authored the chapter "Migration, Slavery and Commodification" in The Oxford Handbook of Commodity History!
Stellenangebot / Job Offer: SHK/WHF
Im Rahmen des Projekts "Race and Freedom: Africans in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the Eve of Modernity", das seit Januar 2024 durch die DFG gefördert und am Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) ansässig ist, suchen wir zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt eine studentische (SHK) oder wissenschaftliche (WHF) Hilfskraft (m/w/d) für 20 Std im Monat.
As part of the project "Race and Freedom: Africans in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the Eve of Modernity", funded by the DFG since January 2024 and based at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), we are looking for a student assistant (SHK, in the BA programme) or research assistant (WHF, in the MA programme) (m/f/d) for 20 hours per month as soon as possible.
Sneak Preview: Screening & Discussion of five Festival Films
Continuing our commitment to thought-provoking cinema and dialogue, we kick off our 2024 series with an exclusive preview of the Afrika Film Festival Köln, due this September. We are lucky to be able to feature a Screening & Discussion of five Festival films:
LIONS by Beru Tessema (2022)
OUSMANE by Jorge Camarotti (2021)
P.D.O. (PROTECTED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN) by Sammy Sidali (2021)
FLOWERS by Dumas Haddad (2022)
SÈT LAM by Vincent Fontano (2023)
Join us for our post-screening talk and get-together with BCDSS members:Malik Ade, Mary Aderonke Afolabi-Adeolu and Luvena Kopp (moderation)
International Workshop on "Contemporary Slavery and Asymmetrical Dependency in Nigeria"
Together with Prof. Dr. Chioma Daisy Onyige and our partner institution from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, we host an international workshop on "Contemporary Slavery and Asymmetrical Dependency in Nigeria."
New Publication by Christian Laes
Former BCDSS Fellow Prof. Dr. Christian Laes, University of Manchester, has published a new book on Disability and Healing in Greek and Roman Myth.
Book Discussion "Slavery and Dependency: Comparative Approaches in Global History."
A roundtable with historians from France, Britain, Germany and the US.
Stellenangebot / Job Offer: Research Associate (65%)
Am Lehrstuhl von Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner ist zum 1. Oktober 2024 die Stelle eines*r Wissenschaftliche*n Mitarbeiter*in (65%) zu besetzen. Die Stelle ist vom 1. Oktober 2024 bis zum 30. September 2028 befristet ausgeschrieben. Nach einem Jahr wird eine Zwischenevaluation durchgeführt. Bis zum 31. Januar 2026 ist die Stelle am Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) angesiedelt, ab dem 1. Februar 2026 am Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften/Abteilung Alte Geschichte.
The Chair of Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner invites applications for the position of a Research Associate (65%). The position is for a fixed-term period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2028. An interim evaluation will be carried out after one year. Until January 31, 2026, the position is located at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), from February 1, 2026 at the Institute of Historical Sciences / Department of Ancient History.
Stellenangebot / Job Offer: SHK/WHF
Für die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG) suchen wir zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt und für ca. 19 Stunden die Woche eine studentische (SHK, im BA Studium) oder wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft (WHF, im MA Studium) (m/w/d).
For our cooperation with the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG) we are looking for a student assistant (SHK, in the BA programme) or research assistant (WHF, in the MA programme) (m/f/d) for approx. 19 hours per week as soon as possible.
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
25 March marks the International Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade Remembrance Day.
Talking History: Ethnographic Interviews, Intersectional Identities, and Power Negotiations in Research Encounters
Sinah Kloß's latest contribution to "Un-Mapping the Global South" is out.
Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lectures - Spring 2024
We regularly invite renowned international scholars from across the world to present their ongoing research related to asymmetrical dependency and slavery. In return we offer the possibility to publish a revised version of their lectures as part of our Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture Publications.
See what's coming up between April and June 2024!
Call for Papers
The BCDSS is accepting papers for the two international conferences that will take place at the Departamento de Historia de la Universidad de La Habana on September 12–13 and Universidad de Cienfuegos on September 20-21, 2024.
SOCARE Keynote Steeve O. Buckridge
We're delighted that Professor Steeve Buckridge (Grand Valley State University, MI) will give the keynote lecture as part of the SOCARE EARLY-CAREER SYMPOSIUM 2024: (Im)materiality, new archives and the Caribbean
Call for Applications
The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies calls for applications for the Euthenia Fellowship Program.
Exhibition 'Counter Thoughts, Counter Images' by Cheryl McIntosh
Don't miss the upcoming exhibition Counter Thoughts, Counter Images by Cheryl McIntosh, a Jamaican-born artist living in Bonn! The exhibition is the result of the 'Active Remembrance Culture' project, which aims to highlight themes of colonialism, racism, resistance, and recognition, particularly in Bonn's history.
"Welten der Sklaverei" Book Launch at Staatsbibliothek Berlin
BCDSS Professor Claudia Jarzebowski and BCDSS Principal Investigator Michael Zeuske share some impressions from the event.
To mark International Women's Day 2024
The Screening & Discussion of the Documentary “Midwives” is part of a two-day event series marking International Women’s Day 2024.
"Without us, where would they go?"
"Midwives", the award-winning documentary by Myanmar film maker Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing is set in the aftermath of the 2017 violent ethnic conflicts between the (Buddhist) Myanmar military and the (Muslim) Rohingya minority in the Rakhine state of Western Myanmar.
The story follows the fortunes of a Rakhine Buddhist Woman and founder of a rural antenatal clinic and her Muslim Rohingya apprentice. The film delivers a nuanced portrait in which the clinic acts as a microcosm of contemporary Myanmar. With an eye toward peace and reconciliation, the film reveals how categorical markers of social difference, including ethnicity, religion and gender, contribute to forming and perpetuating dependency relations.
The discussion will explore these intersectional dependencies.
“Midwives”, Myanmar, Germany | 2022 | 89:00 min | Burmese with English subtitles | link to trailer
International Workshop on “Islamic Feminisms and Dependency”
This workshop is part of a two-day event series jointly organized by the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) and the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn.
The "Islamic Feminisms and Dependency" workshop delves into the intersection of gender, war, and modern Arabic literature, with a focus on Islamic feminism and highlights Prof. Cooke's exploration of "multiple critique" within Islamic feminism, relevant to asymmetrical dependency research. Pre-circulated readings include excerpts from "Women Claim Islam" and an article on "Hijab Activism." Discussions and a coffee break are included in the program.
In essence, the workshop initiates discussions on the relationship between Islamic feminist thought, intersectionality, and asymmetrical dependency research.
Thursday, March 7, 2024 I 13:00 – 16.30 CET
Bonner Universitätsforum, Heussallee 18-24, 53113 Bonn (with hybrid option).
New Article by Christian Mader
BCDSS Research Group Leader Dr. Christian Mader's latest article "An integrative approach to ancient agricultural terraces and forms of dependency" has been published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.
"Africa – Atlantic – America" - New Book Review
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, has recently been reviewed in the magazine Francia-Recensio (2023/4, Frühe Neuzeit – Revolution – Empire (1500–1815)) by Robert Heinze.
You can find the article here.