The Illusion of Abundance
Film Screening and Discussion
Read More
© BCDSS
The Illusion of Abundance
New Publication "Dependent"
Discovery Grant Award
Impressions of 2024

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.      

BCDSS 2024: A Year in Highlights

Bild © Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies / YouTube

BCDSS 2024: A Year in Highlights

2024 was filled with milestones. Watch our highlights video to see what we accomplished together – thank you for being part of our journey!

Enmeshed & Entwined: FABRICS OF DEPENDENCY

Bild © Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies / YouTube

BCDSS exhibition launches digitally!

What can textiles – coarse cloth or fine silks, work and household linen, clothes in different styles and fashions – tell us about different forms of dependency: enslavement, serfdom, forced labour, or in our own day, factory work in the Global South?

Visit our digital exhibition ‘Enmeshed and Entwined: Fabrics of Dependency/Verstrickt und Verwoben: Texturen der Abhängigkeit’ and let our "quilted narratives" help you explore these and further questions.

News
© BCDSS
7
International Lunch Seminar7
The International Lunch Seminar "Bondage, Resistance, and Violence in Angola, 1600s-1880s: Centering Women in Histories of Slavery," will take place on Friday, June 6, 2025, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM at Heussallee 18-24 (room 1.100). 
Mar 31, 2025 7
© BCDSS
8
Online Talk by BCDSS Research Group Leader Sinah Kloß8
We would like to draw your attention to the online talk that will be part of the lecture series of the working group "Familie im Feld" of the German Anthropological Association (DGSKA). BCDSS Research Group Leader Sinah Kloß will be speaking about "Pregnant with Ideas:: Reflections on Pregnancy and Birth in Ethnographic Knowledge Production" on April 25 at 10:15 am.
Mar 26, 2025 8
© BCDSS
9
New Publications by Ludwig D. Morenz9
Congratulations to BCDSS Principal Investigator Ludwig D. Morenz on his recent publication "The vulture and the headless man: Scenes of violence on a Predynastic prestige object from Gebelein" in Archéo-Nil Volume 34 published by Peeters Online Journals.  We would also like to announce his upcoming book Kultur und Macht im vorpharaonischen Ägypten: Visualisierungen von Herrschaft in der sozio-kulturellen Peripherie des Wadi el Malik und des Wadi Nac am während des Vierten Jahrtausends (Culture and Power in Pre-Pharaonic Egypt: Visualizing Claims to Sovereignty in the Socio-Cultural Periphery of Wadi el Malik and Wadi Nac am during the Fourth Millennium) that will be published in German, English and Arabic by EB-VERLAG.
Mar 24, 2025 9
© Daniela Berrio Domínguez
10
Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies: Perspectives from Asia, Past & Present10
Organized by the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, this conference aims to address gaps in the study of slavery, bondage, coerced labor, and forced displacement across Asia. We invite scholars from various disciplines to contribute to a better understanding of the history, historiography, legacies, and current forms of these dependencies from an Asian perspective. We seek innovative historical case studies and contributions on topics like emic terminologies, memory, archival practices, and digital approaches. The conference will also explore the value and implications of adopting an "Asian perspective" in advancing scholarly dialogue and interdisciplinarity.
Mar 21, 2025 10
© BCDSS
11
New publications by Klara Boyer-Rossol11
Congratulations to Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Klara Boyer-Rossol who has published four books on Slavery in Africa during her time as a Research Fellow at the BCDSS.
Mar 17, 2025 11
© BCDSS
12
"WHO'S GOT THE POWER?"12
The WHO'S GOT THE POWER film and discussion series is carrying on this April in collaboration with Förderverein Filmkultur, at Kino in der Brotfabrik, Bonn. On April 8th, 2025, 19:00h, we will be screening the award-winning documentary THE ILLUSION OF ABUNDANCE, directed by Erika Gonzalez Ramirez and Matthieu Lietaert (Belgium/Brazil 2022). A powerful indictment of neo-colonialism, the documentary aims to raise awareness of the various manifestations of neo-colonialism in Latin America and to take a stand against environmental destruction and social injustice. The film had its premiere at the European Parliament in October 2022 and went on to win numerous awards in 2023. Erika Gonzáles Ramírez and Matthieu Lietaert explore who the modern-day conquistadores in Latin America are, why people, and in particular the indigenous population, continue to be exploited, and how powerful players including transnational corporations and institutions can be called to responsibility. The discussion will be featuring BCDSS members Carla Jaimes Betancourt and Christian Mader, as well as Aline Pereira from the Global Heritage Lab, who will be exploring systems of oppression and modern-day conquistadores in Latin America from historically, culturally, and legally informed points of view.  Find out more below.  
Mar 17, 2025 12
© BCDSS
13
Book Launch with Ulrike Schmieder13
Join us for the launch of Enslavement in the Atlantic World Sites of Remembrance, Sites of Silence in France and Spain, Martinique and Cuba by BCDSS affiliate Ulrike Schmieder.
Mar 17, 2025 13
© BCDSS
14
The Matis' Tattoo Celebration (90'): Film screening14
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.
Mar 17, 2025 14
Events
© Global Heritage Lab
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
16
Interwoven Dependencies: Roundtable Discussion16
Global Heritage Lab, ...
04:30 PM - 06:30 PM
Christian missionaries pressured women in colonial contact zones to dress more ‘appropriately’ according to European understandings of Christian modesty. At ...
16
© Global Heritage Lab
Friday Apr 04, 2025
17
Interwoven Dependencies: Keynote Performance by Tuli Mekondjo17
Global Heritage Lab, ...
04:30 PM - 06:30 PM
Tuli Mekondjo’s performance "Saara Omulaule/Black Saara" (2023) was improvised & inspired by Kari Miettinen’s book "On the Way to Whiteness – Christianization, ...
17
© BCDSS
Monday Apr 07, 2025
18
Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Jeffrey Easton18
Online via Zoom
04:15 PM - 06:00 PM
How did marginalized groups in rigid societies find paths to economic and social mobility? In the Roman Empire, lower-class individuals navigated established ...
18
© BCDSS
Tuesday Apr 08, 2025
19
Film Screening and Discussion19
Kino in der Brotfabrik, ...
07:00 PM - 10:45 PM
Join us on April 8, 2025, for the next edition of the "WHO'S GOT THE POWER?" film and discussion series at Kino in der Brotfabrik, Bonn, in collaboration with ...
19
© BCDSS
Monday Apr 14, 2025
20
BCDSS Affiliate Ulrike Schmieder's Book Launch20
Bonner Universitätsforum ...
04:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Join us to the launch of "Versklavung im Atlantischen Raum: Orte des Gedenkens, Orte des Verschweigens in Frankreich und Spanien, Martinique und Kuba ...
20
© BCDSS
Monday Apr 28, 2025
21
Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Joerg Rieger21
HYBRID event: On site ...
04:15 PM - 05:45 PM
How did racism come to be? Just as race is not a biological reality, racism is not inherent to human nature. It was invented and sustained through historical ...
21
© BCDSS
Tuesday Apr 29, 2025
22
Labour, Freedom, Slavery - Sociological and Historical Approaches22
Niebuhrstr. 5
04:30 PM - 06:00 PM
Join us on April 29th when Theresa Wobbe, BCDSS alumna, will discuss the recently published book “Sklaverei, Freiheit und Arbeit: Soziohistorische Beiträge zur ...
22
© Niniane Waldmann
Monday May 05, 2025
23
Intersecting Subjections in South Asian Pasts23
University Club Bonn e. ...
05:00 PM - 08:00 PM
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 ...
23

Contact Us 

Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS)

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Managing Director: Jeannine Bischoff29
Email: dependency@uni-bonn.de

Press and PR Manager: Cécile Jeblawei30
Email: pr@dependency.uni-bonn.de

Address

University of Bonn
Niebuhrstraße 5
53113 Bonn  

BCDSS Fellowship Programs

Address

University of Bonn
Heussallee 18–24
53113 Bonn

Links

  1. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/about-us/third-mission/diversity-equity-inclusion/home
  2. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/research/publications
  3. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/videos-and-recordings
  4. https://dependency.blog
  5. https://dependency.blog/rethinking-unfreedom-in-global-perspective-insights-from-the-innsbruck-conference
  6. https://dependency.blog/intersectionality-and-historically-informed-dependency-studies
  7. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/international-lunch-seminar
  8. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/online-talk-by-bcdss-member-sinah-kloss
  9. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-publications
  10. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/strong-asymmetrical-dependencies-perspectives-from-asia-past-present
  11. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-publications-by-klara-boyer-rossol
  12. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/film-screening-and-discussion-1
  13. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/book-launch
  14. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/the-matis-tattoo-celebration-90-film-screening
  15. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/all-news
  16. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/events/interwoven-dependencies-roundtable-discussion
  17. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/events/interwoven-dependencies-keynote-performance-by-tuli-mekondjo
  18. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/joseph-c-miller-memorial-lecture-by-jeffrey-easton
  19. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/film-screening-and-discussion
  20. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/bcdss-alumni-ulrike-schmieders-book-launch
  21. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/joseph-c-miller-memorial-lecture-by-joerg-rieger
  22. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/conference
  23. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/intersecting-subjections-in-south-asian-pasts
  24. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events
  25. https://listen.uni-bonn.de/wws/subscribe/dependencystudies
  26. https://www.facebook.com/DependencyBonn
  27. https://www.instagram.com/dependencybonn/
  28. https://twitter.com/DependencyBonn/status/1493549511247024131
  29. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/about-us/people/management/managing-director
  30. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/about-us/people/management/press-and-pr-manager
  31. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/about-us/people/management/head-of-research-and-study
  32. https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/about-us/people/management/phd-coordinator