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. In May 2025, we were awarded a further seven years of funding by the German Research Foundation. Hence, as of January 2026, we will be starting our SECOND FUNDING PERIOD (2026-2032).
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.
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BILGI - BONN History Graduate Conference 9-10 May 20257
Jul 07, 2025
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How to avoid animal species becoming extinct twice?8
Jun 02, 2025
- More…6
News
© BCDSS
"Archaeology and language dynamics in the medieval and early modern eras"9
Congratulations to BCDSS postdoctoral researcher James M. Harland, member and representative ofResearch Area E - Gender (and Intersectionality) on his new co-authored Article together with Mark Hudson and Alison Crowther.
© BCDSS
Long Dureé Approaches to the Global Plantation Complex10
The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) is accepting applications for an upcoming workshop on the global history of plantations, which will take place in November 2025. This interdisciplinary event will bring together Ph.D. candidates and early-career researchers to explore the historical evolution and global impact of plantation systems from late antiquity through the early modern era.
© BCDSS
New Publication: Special Issue of 'Body and Society' edited by Sinah Kloß and Antonia Villinger11
Congratulations to BCDSS Research Group Leader Dr. Sinah Kloß and Antonia Villinger (Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg), on editing the special issue of the journal Body and Society titled 'Pregnant Bodies: Embodied Pregnancy.'
© BCDSS
New Article by Research Group Leader Sinah Kloß12
We would like to draw your attention to the new article, "Tattoos and Sonic Imitation: Mantras, Body Tuning and Tattooing as Sounding," by BCDSS Research Group Leader Dr. Sinah Kloß published in Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief.
© BCDSS
DSS Vol. 20 - New Publication by Ulrich Berges13
The book Justice and Righteousness in the Old Testament: Reflecting on Slavery in the Hebrew Bible by BCDSS PI Prof. Dr. Ulrich Berges is now available through open access as part of the BCDSS Book Series 'Dependency and Slavery Studies' (DSS).
© BCDSS
"The Devil and Colonialism" - New Publication by Jutta Wimmler14
Congratulations to Research Group Leader Dr. Jutta Wimmler, whose article "The Devil and Colonialism" was just published in the The Routledge History of the Devil in the Western Tradition.
© BCDSS
New Publication: Special Issue of 'Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History', edited by V. Bartash and A. Pottorf15
Congratulations to BCDSS Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Vitali Bartash and Dr. Andrew Pottorf (University of Cambridge) on the publication of a special issue on 'Beyond Slavery and Freedom in Ancient Mesopotamia' with the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History.
© BCDSS
New Article by Christian Mader16
New Article by BCDSS Researcher and Coordinator of the Research Group "The Archaeology of Dependency (ArchDepth): Resources, Power and Status Differentiation," Dr. Christian Mader:
"Mapping and Geospatial Analysis of Ancient Terrace Agricultural Systems in Lucanas Province, Peruvian Andes, Based on Satellite Imagery, High-Resolution DSMs, and Field Surveys" (Geoarchaeology, Volume 40, Issue 2).
Events
Workshop Dependency and Embodied Experience18
Niebuhrstr. 5, 53113 Bonn
10:00 AM
This interdisciplinary workshop on body history and experiences explores strong asymmetrical dependencies from the perspective of the body and experience. The ...
Knowledge Dependencies and the Un/Making of Equitable Futures19
Tulpenfeld 6, 53113 Bonn
Whole Day
Amid escalating geopolitical instability, authoritarian retrenchments, and the deepening securitisation of knowledge-making, this conference critically ...
Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Ann R. David20
HYBRID event: On site ...
04:15 PM - 05:45 PM
How has Western morality reshaped Indian ideas of the body and performance?
This research explores how colonial and postcolonial ideologies impacted Indian ...
Contact Us
Managing Director: Jeannine Bischoff26
Email: dependency@uni-bonn.de
Press and PR Manager: Cécile Jeblawei27
Email: pr@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Address
University of Bonn
Niebuhrstraße 5
53113 Bonn
BCDSS Fellowship Programs
Coordination: Sarah Dusend28
Email: researchandstudy@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Deputy: Laura Hartmann29
Email: l.hartmann@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Address
University of Bonn
Heussallee 18–24
53113 Bonn
Links
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/about-us/bcdss2
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- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/research/publications
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/videos-and-recordings
- https://dependency.blog
- https://dependency.blog/bilgi-bonn-history-graduate-conference-9-10-may-2025
- https://dependency.blog/how-to-avoid-animal-species-becoming-extinct-twice
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-co-authored-article-by-bcdss-postdoctoral-researcher-james-m-harland
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/call-for-papers
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-publication-special-issue-of-body-and-society-edited-by-bcdss-research-group-leader-sinah-kloss-and-antonia-villinger
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-article-by-bcdss-researcher-sinah-kloss
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-publication-from-ulrich-berges
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-publication-by-jutta-wimmler
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/new-publication-special-issue-of-journal-of-ancient-near-eastern-history-edited-by-vitali-bartash-and-andrew-pottorf
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/copy_of_new-article-by-christian-mader
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/outreach/news-bcdss/all-news
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/workshop-embodied-experiences-and-dependencies
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/knowledge-dependencies-and-the-un-making-of-equitable-futures
- https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/joseph-c-miller-memorial-lecture-by-ann-r-david
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