Tea Time - Silencing Colonialism: German Cultural Heritages and Memory Politics- Recent Developments and Controversies
Presenter: Hubertus Büschel
This Teatime session will discuss recent and ongoing developments in Germany's “culture of remembrance" and memory politics, particularly in relation to the silencing, denial, and neglect of German colonialism and colonial crimes committed by Germans and their collaborators, including the genocide against the Herero and Nama.
At the centre of this discussion is the concerning policy direction taken by the current Minister of State for Culture, Wolfram Weimer, who has excluded German colonialism from the new state-led concept for memorial sites. This has resulted in the discontinuation of funding and support for programmes that focus on Germany's colonial past. While his predecessor, Claudia Roth, sought to establish colonial history as the “third pillar” of Germany's remembrance culture, Weimer's approach focuses exclusively on the Nazi regime of terror and the SED dictatorship.
Politicians from German parties such as The Greens and The Left, together with several civil society initiatives, have criticised this policy as a “leap backwards" and as an attempt to relativise Germany's responsibility for colonial crimes. They continue to call for colonial violence, racism, and genocide to be recognised as integral to Germany's memory culture and political responsibility.
This presentation will trace the background and stages of this recent development, while also showing the longer tradition within German historiography and memory politics of silencing, denying, or minimising colonial crimes and genocides. The presentation aims to stimulate critical discussion among participants on ways to counteract such trends. It will also invite reflection on the impact of this renewed wave of colonial whitewashing in Germany on development cooperation, equality, decolonisation, and global partnership.
This is an internal event of the GPN, but if you have interest on it, please contact Omphulusa Nengwekhulu - omphulusa.nengwekhulu[at]ru[dot]ac[dot]za