News and Events
Don’t miss our third and last film screening this year in cooperation with Kino in der Brotfabrik: PARIS IS BURNING, a landmark documentary from 1990 by Jennie Livingston (USA). Documenting the queer “Ballroom Culture” in New York City in the 1980s, this groundbreaking movie depicts Latinx and Black queer and transgender communities. It explores their struggles with multiple forms of discrimination regarding their race, class, gender, sexual identity long before concepts such as gender fluidity or intersectionality were discussed in society. Stay on after the screening and join the conversion and get-together with free drinks/nibbles! BCDSS Professor Julia Hillner will give a short introduction on the BCDSS’ thematic year with a research focus on Gender (and Intersectionality). Förderverein Filmkultur, the Queer-Referat (AStA Uni Bonn) and BCDSS Professor Pia Wiegmink will kickstart the post-screening conversation.
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.
"Ecological Transition and the Dependency Trap: Challenging Old Approaches to Sovereignty". Sabrina Fernandes is a Brazilian sociologist and political economist with a PhD from Carleton University, Canada. She has researched transitions and ecology for over a decade, with expertise on Latin America. Formerly a postdoctoral fellow with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, with research appointments at the University of Vienna, Freie Universität Berlin, and University of Brasília, she has recently completed a fellowship with the Centre of Advanced Latin American Studies at the University of Guadalajara focused on the Anthropocene and the topic of sacrifice zones. She was also a contributing editor at Jacobin Magazine and chief editor of Jacobin Brazil. Her books and articles cover various fields and her publications can be found in English, Portuguese, Spanish and other languages. Currently, she is Head of Research at the Alameda Institute.
How did ancient gender discourse shape the roles and agency of women and men in mobility, and what factors influenced their ability to shape their own mobility and that of others during late antiquity? This lecture explores how gender has historically led to disparities and inequalities, particularly in the context of mobility studies. Traditionally, mobile women were often seen as mere companions, not decision-makers. Through late antique letters, we examine the gender discourse's impact on travel and mobility, shedding light on who held influence in these journeys and whether gender was the sole determinant of agency. These mobility stories provide valuable insights into gendered mobility in late antiquity.
What are the historical and socioeconomic factors that have contributed to the emergence and perpetuation of human trafficking and the commercial sex industry, and how do these factors connect to the late-medieval world and modern society? Today, poverty and corruption are frequently cited as major underlying causes of modern slavery and human trafficking. However, these issues are not exclusive to modern society; they have deep historical roots transcending borders, cultures, and economic systems. Human trafficking networks thrived in the late-medieval world, using tactics like kidnapping, abduction, familial pressure, and predatory employment to exploit vulnerable women and girls in various industries, including food service, textiles, and domestic work
Over the past five years, a project team based at the International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam has developed the ESTA Database structure in collaboration with international partners. The ESTA project has established a relational database model that is able to accommodate structural differences in source material and (existing) datasets relating to different parts of the Indian Ocean and maritime Asia region. Currently (2023), the database contains over 4,000 slave trade voyages across the maritime Asia region between roughly 1600 and 1850. The number of enslaved persons transported during these voyages range from at least 340,000–342,500 to 600,000 individuals. IISH and BCDSS are closely linked not only by their collaboration on this project but also by an international partnership. 13:30 Welcome 13:45 Launch of ESTA Database 14:30 Comments 15:00 Open Discussion and Q&A 16:30 Reception Registration required due to limited seating!
The conference will focus in the larger household organizations, including the private households of the military, political and economic elites, but also, for example, plantations, private companies, haciendas and estates. All can be considered as households where the head wields extensive if not absolute power over its members. All these households represented labour regimes which were based on an asymmetrically dependent work force consisting of servants, peasants, enslaved and other coerced labourers. We will address the following issues: How do we define the household? How do people enter and exit the household? Who belongs to the household? What is the division of labour? How does it function as a unit of production and/or economic unit? What are the mechanisms of control within the household? All in all, we would like to test the idea that “household” can be developed into an analytical tool to analyze strong asymmetrical dependencies in societies.
Monumentality in Southern Central America: Complexity, Inequality, Dependency? Perspectives on Human and other-than-human Relationships A Hybrid Collaborative Conference by the University of Bonn and Leiden University, supported through NWO-VICI grant (VI.C.221.093), Principal Investigator Dr. Alexander Geurds" Monumentality in archaeology serves as a descriptive and interpretative term. It characterizes notable objects and structures in landscapes and theorizes societal organization. This workshop explores monumentality in southern Central America through landscape transformations using enduring materials like stone. Monumentality, viewed as a product of human-nature relationships, doesn't signify social stratification but instead an effort to establish dependency on the natural world.
We are very pleased that Trevor Burnard and Damian Pargas have offered to present and discuss their new books with us! Trevor Burnard, Writing the History of Global Slavery (Cambridge Elements, Cambridge University Press), forthcoming (November 2023) Damian Pargas (ed., together with Juliane Schiel), The Palgrave Handbook of Global Slavery throughout History (Palgrave MacMillan), June 2023 The discussion is moderated by BCDSS postdoctoral researcher Viola Müller and is followed by a reception.
In his presentation, Jay Geller will attend to the ascription (and manufacture) of animality that enacted the subordination or marginalization of “the Jew” and the dominance of the Gentile and similarly functioned with regard to a racially-identified group, people of predominantly sub-Saharan African descent (blacks), and the corresponding race-identifying group, people of predominantly European descent (whites). Trigger warning for attending audiences and students: We would like to disclose that some audiences may find the verbal and visual content of this presentation triggering or offensive as it draws on antisemitic and racist representations. The material includes content that touches on: animal cruelty or animal death, violence and trauma connected to antisemitism, racism and racial conflict, antisemitic and racial slurs. We ask attending audiences who may feel triggered, overwhelmed or panicked by the content to take the necessary steps for their emotional safety.
"Tori and Lokita" depicts multiple forms of strong asymmetrical dependencies connected to migration from Africa to Europe. Two young refugees from Benin and Cameroon form a makeshift safety net for one another in the absence of blood relatives while they are facing marginalization, coerced labor, child labor, sexual exploitation, criminilization and further forms of oppression in Belgium. The film screening will start at 18:30 CET, followed by a discussion at 20:00 CET. The dicussion will be kick-started with input from BCDSS Professor Claudia Jarzebowski and PhD Researcher Boluwatife Akinro, as well as Professor Britta Hartmann and Lucas Curstädt of the Media Studies Department, University of Bonn. The discussion will be held mainly in German, however, contributions in English are welcome, and we will translate where necessary. The entire event is free of charge for everyone. Please REGISTER BY 27 September, 5 pm, via: pr@dependency.uni-bonn.de.
This week, we'll have a Fellows Block Seminar, including book and project presentations, which will also be the last one for this academic year (2022/23)! We're looking forward to the following presentations: 1) 11:00-12:00 Katja Makhotina, HHK Fellow (book presentation) Title: “Monastery and prison. Places of Confinement in Western Europe and Russia from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age”, edited by Katja Makhotina, Falk Bretschneider, Natalia Muchnik, Martin Aust. Moscow 2022 2) 12:30-13:15 Ulbe Bosma, IISH Amsterdam (project presentation) Title: “The Global South in the Age of Early Industrial Capitalism: Commodity Frontiers and Social Transformations (1816-1870)” 3) 13:30-14:15 Emmanuel Saboro, University of Cape Coast (project presentation) Title: “Sites of Memory: Visuality and Metaphors of Slavery in Ghana” decades of the twentieth century. 5) 15:15-15:30 Stephan Conermann (wrap up) For more info, check the link below.
The workshop is organized by the German-Australian DAAD-UA collaborative project "Child Slaveries in the Early Modern World: Gender, Trauma, and Trafficking in Transcultural Perspectives (1500-1800)" of early career researchers from the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, and the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies and hosted by the BCDSS History and Theory Working Group. We explore historical dimensions of child slavery, dependency, gender and emotions in multiple world regions, with research grounded in archival and visual narratives.
In the early modern period, forced labour went hand in hand with imprisonment and had an inherent punitive logic: the publicly performed labour of prisoners was supposed to have a deterrent effect and act preventively, similar to rituals of corporal punishment. In the context of the centralisation of absolutist power for the "state of common good", a complementary view of the work of imprisoned delinquents emerged: it had to be increasingly conveyed as a means of human improvement. The police objectives were combined with the reformatory purposes. Work became the antithesis of idleness, and in the penitentiaries of Europe the convicts not only had to be made to work for fiscal purposes, but the poor also had to be (re)educated to work. The planned workshop brings together case studies from different cultural contexts and will ask about the genealogy of the discourse of labour and the possible transfers and retransfers of the concept of penal labour as a means of correction.
This week, guest lecturer Peter Marx (University of Cologne) is looking forward to a lively discussion of and feedback on his project "'Unehrlich' [Insincere] and marginalized: On the precarious status of performers in the Early Modern period." The legal status of performers – actors, dancers, musicians, media performers – was highly precarious throughout the Early Modern period. Looking more closely into the field, it becomes obvious that this status reflects more general questions of freedom, social status and a field of arts that was an intrinsic part of the social fabric, yet always confined to the margins. The paper tries to sketch some outlines for future research in this field in the perspective of a connected history (Subrahmanyam).
How important is the little-known return of severely ill ex-inmates from Stalinist penitentiaries (1930-1953) compared to the widely known transfers within the Soviet GULAG system? Examining the mass deaths of released prisoners during their journeys back from the camps reveals a new facet of human suffering often overlooked in official statistics. Considering these overlooked victims improves our understanding of the true human cost of the GULAG system.
The lecture has been postponed to a future date! We apologise for any inconvenience! What was the Bracero Program and how did it impact labor relations in North America from 1942 to 1964? This lecture analyzes the term "bracero" and its use, exploring various perspectives from workers, growers, unions, public opinion, and government representatives. Primary sources from the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City and the Bracero History Archive will be utilized to assess the program's dependency relationships and its legacy.
How did labor relations evolve in colonial Hispanic America, and what factors contributed to the increased coercion in the seventeenth century? Hypothesizing that the scarcity of labor, caused by a demographic debacle, the disintegration of indigenous society, and the diversification of the colonial economy, led to a rise in coercion in labor relations during the seventeenth century. To investigate this, The lecture will focus on the transformation of old forms of organization and the emergence of new coercive configurations, particularly the "servicio personal" (personal service) and its variations in the Viceroyalty of Peru (present-day Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and Ecuador).
"Workingman's Death" is a visually stunning and emotionally resonant documentary that delves into the lives of laborers from different corners of the world. Directed by the Austrian filmmaker Michael Glawogger, the unique approach to storytelling, masterful cinematography, and commitment to capturing the essence of humanity have made "Workingman's Death" an enduring and thought-provoking piece of cinema. Glawogger takes viewers on an odyssey that exposes the harsh realities faced by laborers in five distinct locations: the coal mines of Ukraine, the sulfur mines in Indonesia, the ship-breaking yards in Pakistan, the slaughterhouses in Nigeria, and the steelworks in China. The film confronts the disturbing aspects of these workers' lives, exploring human perseverance in the face of extreme hardship. Don't miss the after-screening discussion & reception with BCDSS PhD researcher Ayesha Hussain, led by Cécile Jeblawei (BCDSS) and Sigrid Limprecht (Kino in der Brotfabrik).
This international conference will explore asymmetrical dependencies and related phenomena in Latin America from an archaeological point of view. A recent paradigm shift has resulted in the study of diverse forms of dependency across space and time, including colonialism, slavery, political-ideological coercion, coerced tribute, servitude, serfdom, debt bondage, convict labor, indentured migration, labor migration, and forced relocation of groups of laborers. These new research foci also entail the development and application of new theoretical, methodological, and not least data-driven approaches, thereby analyzing and combining various lines of evidence. We intend this conference to be a forum for discussion, bringing together a wide range of perspectives and case studies from different regions and time periods in Latin America.
How did the violent process of defining national territories and borders in the Amazon during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries contribute to the expansion of commodity frontiers like rubber, gold, and oil? This lecture focuses on the intersection of racial and labor relations during the rubber frontier's expansion in southwest Amazonia in the early twentieth century. It examines labor coercion and enslavement in the Guaporé Valley, Brazil-Bolivia border, using firsthand accounts and indigenous perspectives. By considering the spatial and temporal dimensions of labor commodification, this talk aims to contribute to discussions on labor relations during the rubber boom and the persistence of coerced labor in post-abolition Brazil's capitalist development in the Amazon.
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 week, our fellow Thiago Sapede is looking forward to a lively discussion of and feedback on his project "The muleke (“Church slaves”) in the 18th and 19th Centuries Kingdom of Kongo”. This presentation analyzes the complex role and status of the mulekes (“Church slaves”) in 18th and 19th century Kingdom of Kongo. The mulekes played a prominent role in Kongo catholic missions, working in the catholic convents in mbanzas (towns) and following European missionaries to the voyages throughout the country. These characters will reveal interesting clues to Central African forms of slavery and their intersection with European-colonial forms of dependency. PS: Please note that the seminar will be from 13:00 - 14:30 CET instead of the usual 16:00 - 17:30 CET. Please make sure to adjust your schedule accordingly.
This week, our fellow Justin Roberts is looking forward to a lively discussion of and feedback on his project “Fragile Empire: Slavery in the Early English Tropics, 1645-1720.” As a framework, the global tropics offers us a new way of thinking about the origins of slavery in the English empire. The English took advantage of a wide variety of bondage systems to support their commercial and territorial expansion in the global tropics. By the 1680s, one variant of racial slavery had outcompeted other forms of bondage within the empire. It was marked by its permanence, its heritability, its impermeable boundaries, and its distinct brutality. It was associated with the tropical zone. The dominance of this genus of bondage shaped the ongoing threats of insurrection and invasion in England’s expanding tropical empire.
Join us on Monday, October 30, 2023, at 18:15 CET for a reading and discussion evening with Mareice Kaiser, BCDSS Principal Investigator Karoline Noack and Jean-Pierre Schneider, Director of Caritas Bonn, about the dependency relationships behind the unjust distribution of money and how this could be overcome. The event is a cooperation between the BCDSS and the Adult Education Center (VHS) Bonn.
This workshop considers how unequal social and labor relations were entangled with notions of difference between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. Across South Asia during this period, articulations of difference – expressed across multiple registers of discourse and practice – produced and sustained asymmetrical relations and networks of dependencies. Through exploring the interplay of these factors during this period, as well as potential connections or disjunctures with prior and subsequent eras, the workshop hopes to contribute towards developing a comparative framework across distinct contexts from Mughal North India to Portuguese Goa to the Deccan under Maratha rule. Participants will examine how social categories such as caste, gender, origin, and ethnicity intersected with relations of slavery, servitude, and/or service, looking at examples such as military labor, domestic service, and corvée labor.
Join the workshop "Beyond Slavery and Freedom in the Ancient Near East", organized by BCDSS Postdoctoral Researcher Vitali Bartash at the 68th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, University of Leiden. The workshop addresses the social groups in the ancient Near East that were not slaves but whose freedom was strongly restricted by law, economic conditions, patronage, religious institutions and other factors. Contributions highlight the differences between these groups from citizens with full rights, on the one hand, and from slaves, on the other. Why, how, and on whom were they strongly dependent? Finally, the papers find out if there were ways out of these dependent statuses.
Join the panel discussion "Colonial Traces in Bonn - the Long Road to a New Culture of Remembrance?" organized by Fernuni Hagen. Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann will be speaking on behalf of the BCDSS and University of Bonn. The event will be held in German. What is colonial in the city of Bonn? Which traces can still be found today, how are they dealt with in society, politics, media and research? Especially recently, civil society, the university and municipal institutions have formulated more advanced approaches and debates that challenge familiar images of history. Does this only add to the generally known urban history or does it lay a completely new, postcolonial foundation for an inclusive culture of memory? Please register by July 11, 2023 at: campus.bonn@fernuni-hagen.de
This week, our fellow Matthew Dziennik is looking forward to a lively discussion of and feedback on his project “Soldiers, Slavery, and Dependence in West Africa, c. 1750‒1850.” Between c. 1750 and c. 1850, British authority in West Africa and the wider Atlantic World rested on the labor of enslaved African soldiers. This presentation analyzes British efforts to recruit manpower as a window into slavery, dependence, and imperialism in the Age of Revolutions. It reveals the often counterintuitive ways in which assumptions about slavery and dependence were inverted by efforts to recruit and deploy soldiers.