New Special Issue on "Justice in the Anthropocene"

The current issue of the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie | Journal of Social and Cultural Anthropology 149(2) features the open access special issue "Justice in the  Anthropocene“, co-edited by Olaf Zenker and Anna-Lena Wolf. This special issue is animated by the intuition that the promising development of a new anthropology of justice and the important contemporary debates about the Anthropocene in anthropology and beyond should be brought into  closer conversation with each other and joined together. It features 5 inspiring ethnographic case studies as well as the introductory contribution by the co-editors entitled "Towards a New Anthropology of Justice in the Anthropocene: Anthropological (Re)Turns“.
Check out the special issue for free here https://zfejsca.org/ojs/index.php/jsca/issue/view/149-2   

The lecture on January 21 is canceled

The lecture "Lifeworlds in Crisis-Making Refugees in Chad-Sudan Borderlands" by Ms. Behrends on January 21, 2025 will not take place due to illness.

Lecture on November 26th, 2024 will not take place!

Unfortunately, Steven Robins` lecture on November 26th, 2024 "Williston Is Always Left Behind" will not take place.

AMO LECTURE N°11 by Minna Salami on 13 November

This year`s ANTON WILHELM AMO LECTURE will be held on site in Halle (Saale) and online on 13 November 2024, 6:15 p.m. CEST. Minna Salami (The New Institute) will be speaking on the topic of "Alchemy and Revolution: Feminist and Afropolitan Perspectives on Human Nature in a Post-Pandemic World". More information at: https://mlu.de/btudh   

"The Specter of Populism": Film Screening & Discussion with the Director (23 October 2024)

In the context of our JOINT COLLOQUIA, we will watch and discuss with the director Jürgen Schaflechner his latest film "The Specter of  Populism“. The film engages with a key term of political debates in recent years and asks: Is populism a threat to democratic institutions or a potential revitalization of the democratic process? Are we witnessing a reaction to the failures of liberal democracy, or is populism an inherent aspect of any political mobilization that claims to represent the will of `the people`?

Exploring these questions, "The Specter of Populism", dramatized around Wagner`s renowned opera Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen (musically  reinterpreted by Ernst Reijsenger), features interviews with Jodi Dean,  Faisal Devji, Oliver Marchart, William Mazzarella, Chantal Mouffe,  Kolja Möller, and Jan-Werner Müller, who shed light on the complex  theories of populist politics and their relevance to our current political landscape. The film is part of the "Cinematic Understanding of Theory (CUT)" project, which aims to render intricate and multifaceted academic ideas more accessible to a broader audience.

The screening and discussion will take place on Wednesday, 23 October 2024, at 18:15h in the seminar room of our Institute.

Einführungstage für Erstsemesterstudierende

Das Seminar für Ethnologie lädt alle Studierenden herzlich zu den Einführungsveranstaltungen am 8. und 9. Oktober ein. Das Programm finden Sie hier.

Eröffnung der Ausstellung „Wechsel deine Perspektive - Ethnologie öffnet Türen“ am 15.04.2024

Am Montag, den 15.04.2024, wird die Ausstellung  „Wechsel deine Perspektive - Ethnologie öffnet Türen“ um 18:00 Uhr in  der Aula der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg,  Universitätsplatz 11 (Löwengebäude), eröffnet. Interessierte sind herzlich willkommen (siehe News des MPI für Ethnologische Forschung   .

Publication of AMO LECTURE No. 10 by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Last year, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Professor of African Political Thought and   Africana Studies at Cornell University (USA), gave the ANTON WILHELM  AMO  LECTURE No. 10, organised by Professor Olaf Zenker at Martin Luther University. The text of the lecture entitled Rewriting   the History of Modern Philosophy: On Philosophy of History, Political   Philosophy and Liberal Education in 19th Century West Africa was recently published as an open access publication and as a print version. Click here    for the open access version. Further information on the AMO LECTURES and a video recording of Táíwò`s lecture can be found here.

New Open Access Publication on Redistributive Justice in South Africa

The volume Beyond Expropriation Without Compensation: Law, Land Reform and Redistributive Justice in South Africa, co-edited by Olaf Zenker, Cherryl Walker and Zsa-Zsa Boggenpoel, was just published in open access and in print within the series "Cambridge  Studies in Constitutional Law“. Based on a project and conference at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in South Africa here   , the volume takes as its starting point the recent politically and emotionally charged debates around a constitutional amendment explicitly permitting the expropriation of land without compensations. It offers both expert commentary on this issue from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and also fresh ideas on how to advance the redistributive transformation that South Africa so urgently needs. It brings critically important debates around transformative property law, the need for diversified land justice and the possibilities of alternative forms of redistribution into productive conversation with each other. Besides contributions by the editors, it features chapters by Bulelwa Mabasa, Thomas Karberg, Siphosethu Zazela, Elmien du Plessis, Juanita Pienaar, Danie Brand, Ruth Hall, Sindiso Mnisi Weeks, William Beinart, Vishwas Satgar, Heinz Klug and James Ferguson. Check out the freely available chapters here    .

Statement of the GASCA Board on Academic Freedom in Germany accessible

In February 2024, the  board of the German Association of Social and Cultural Anthropology  (GASCA) has published a Statement on Academic Freedom in Germany. The  full statement can be found on the GASCA website: https://www.dgska.de/stellungnahme-des-vorstands-zur-wissenschaftsfreiheit-in-deutschland/   

Neue wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Seminar für Ethnologie

Das Seminar für Ethnologie begrüßt Dr. Edda Willamowski, die am 01. Februar 2024 ihre Stelle als wissenschaftliche Postdoc-Mitarbeiterin im Arbeitsbereich von Prof. Dr. Anita von Poser angetreten hat. Ein herzliches Willkommen an unserem Institut!

Olaf Zenker's lecture on Anton Wilhelm Amo at the University of Halle

As part of the lecture series "Erinnerung in Komplexität. Weltgedächtnis  und Solidarität“ ("Memory in Complexity. World Consciousness/Memory and  Solidarity“), Professor Olaf Zenker recently gave a German-medium  lecture on Anton Wilhelm Amo at the University of Halle, entitled  "Vergessen, Erinnern, Erweitern: Anton Wilhelm Amo an der Universität  Halle“. Watch the recording here   .