Science and Medicine in German Colonialism and Imperialism
In recent years, the public interest in Germany’s colonial history has grown considerably. The plans for the Humboldt Forum in Berlin sparked debates about the violent origins of the planned exhibits. Discussions about persisting racism in Germany drew attention to "scientific" justifications of racism developed from the 18th to the early 20th century, and to the large collections of, often robbed, human remains, which were created in anatomical or anthropological institutes and ethnological museums for such research. Demands for reparations from Namibia and its recent recognition as genocide by the German government have brought the murderous war against Herero and Nama in 1904–1908 to public attention – and have challenged the fairy tale of a harmless and insignificant German colonial rule.
As a contribution to this reckoning with the past, we want to examine the role of science and scientists in German economic imperialism and colonialism from the perspective of the history of science. What roles did knowledge and individual scientific disciplines play, and what knowledge was considered particularly relevant for colonial undertakings? How was this knowledge provided, and how did the sciences practically support colonial rule, exploitation and oppression? How did they contribute to the ideological justification of colonialism? At the same time, we want to investigate how global power structures and the use of colonial infrastructure shaped scientific practice and epistemological interests in the German empire, and how German scientists made use of research opportunities in the colonial realm. In addition, we want to study how German scientists used indigenous knowledge for their own purposes, and how the local population perceived science and scientists of the German colonial masters.
Contributions on the history of the natural sciences and medicine, but also on ethnology and archaeology will identify links between science and colonialism in the German Empire. In addition, connections of German scientists to the colonial undertakings of other European nations will become visible.
The lecture series is aimed at researchers and students from the history of science, general history, German studies, European studies and other humanities, as well as members of the science departments.
Organised by Prof. Dr. Omar W. Nasim, Katharina Bick, and Dr. Christian Reiss