This course is designed to introduce students to the wide interdisciplinary perspective on diversity, politics of belonging and the status of citizenship of people within the African Diaspora in Berlin. The course will travel through the hidden geography of the so-called Afrikanisches Viertel in Wedding and focus on issues around public space, monuments, and street names from the 1960s to the present day that have anchored German colonialism. We will consider the relationship between colonialism and white supremacy in Germany whilst examining the ongoing debate around how German (Anti-) racism has been influenced by earlier colonial ideology and practice. We will turn to the resurgence of colonialism as a theme in recent literature and historiography. In all of its cultural prosperity and diversity, Africa remains alive in the receiving societies as the various ethnic groups created new cultures and recreated their old ways as much as circumstances allowed.
Students are encouraged to critically analyse these representations with the intentional notion of undoing—unlearning within larger theoretical frameworks of the (in) visibility of the African diaspora in Berlin. Exploring these themes plays an important role in understanding how different forms of citizenship are experienced and negotiated by people within the African diaspora.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Azakhiwe Z. Nocanda