Forschungsschwerpunkte

• Geschichte West- und Westzentralafrikas (vor allem Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, Togo, Kapverdische Inseln, Angola)
• Französische, portugiesische und spanische Kolonialgeschichte im subsaharischen Afrika
• Geschichte von ethnischen Konflikten und rassistischen Zuschreibungen
• Zwangsarbeit als koloniales und globales Phänomen

Aktuelles Projekt: "Forced labour: an Afro-European heritage in sub-Saharan Africa (1930-1975)?

(gefördert durch ERC Starting Grant n° 240898 der Europäischen Kommission)

This project analyses the structures of colonial systems of forced labour, in an attempt to come to a comparison of the different trajectories of African populations under distinct European administrations. Through the interpretation of case studies from different West African and Central African territories, it will be possible to understand the techniques of organising an involuntary labour force, and their evolution until and beyond independence. The slow process of the abolition of forced labour from World War II did not exclude continuities in clandestine practices of forcing African (rural) populations to work without remuneration. Another form of continuity connects colonial practices to the postcolonial re-institution of systems of forced labour: many postcolonial African governments were inclined to rely themselves on respective practices under the impression of dire budgetary situations. The different case studies will highlight the existence of forced labour as an Afro-European heritage in the social structures of African societies, and link that heritage back to the experiences of African populations in the local arena. For cases from Ghana, Senegal, São Tomé e Príncipe, and a larger Central African region consisting of sub-cases from Angola, Gabon, and Zambia, the project will address the question how structures of and changes in forced labour had an impact on relations of power inside of the local societies. In particular, forced labour was, in the colonial period, not only a means for colonial officials to shape socio-economic realities in the colonies according to their ideas, but it also was an instrument in the hands of chiefs ( traditional rulers ) who were eager to employ it as a weapon to discipline any existing opposition among their populations. African voices, particularly from archival sources, will be in the focus of this analysis: they will show the importance of the particular experience of forced labour for African social evolution.

Lebenslauf