Book Spotlight “Asiaten in Europa. Begegnungen zwischen Asiaten und Europäern 1880–1914 [Asians in Europe: Encounters between Asians and Europeans, 1880–1914], Paderborn 2016”
European imperial expansion was, in many regards, strongly connected to the concept of modernity. In my book, I deal with Asian contributions to European debates around the concept of modernity and decadence, thereby exploring interactions between Indians, Chinese, Japanese on the one side, and Europeans in turn-of-the-century England and Germany, on the other. The question of modernity had a special … Read More
Indian and Chinese Anti-imperial Networks in the 1930s and 1940s
In August 1939, Jawaharlal Nehru, an influential leader of the Indian national movement and the future prime minister of independent India, explained his decision to visit China by evoking solidarity among oppressed people: ‘I go to China because China is the symbol today of magnificent courage in the struggle for freedom, of a determination which has survived untold misery and … Read More
Naturverinselung im Viktoriasee: Ökologische Erbschaften der transimperialen Kampagne gegen die Schlafkrankheit
Zur Eindämmung der Schlafkrankheit gingen die Kolonialmächte in Afrika am Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts gesundheitspolitische und wissenschaftliche Kooperationen ein. Im Gebiet des Viktoriasees, das als zentraler Epidemieherd galt, wirkten sich die ergriffenen Maßnahmen auch auf die ökologische Umwelt gravierend aus. Eine bedeutende Folge der Epidemiepolitik bestand in der Verinselung von Natur. Dieser Ausdruck verweist auf einen Zusammenhang zwischen ökologischen, epidemiologischen, … Read More
The “Exploration” of Central Africa in the Late 19th Century as a Transimperial Project – The Example of Paul Pogge
“I raise my glass to the civilization of Africa by simultaneous efforts of all nations under all flags”,[1] declared Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza on 19 October 1882 at the Paris Hotel Continental. Brazza, the French navy officer who had just come back from an expedition to central Africa weeks before, had come to the hotel uninvited. Here he joined a … Read More
Education between Empires: International Schools in East Asia during the First Half of the Twentieth Century
In the late nineteenth century, under the global condition, all societies had to newly define their place in an increasingly interconnected world.[1] During the time of the “great divergence”, the industrially leading centres of power made use of their competitive advantages to shape global relations according to their designs.[2] These imperial societies projected their power into the world and pursued … Read More