13165

SoSe 20: Polycentric Approaches to Early Modern Global History

Claudia Jarzebowski-Schröter

Information for students

Digital formats will be used (Zoom and Blackboard). Further information will be provided via email.

Comments

Early modern global history contributes largely to an understanding of global history as, firstly, historically evolved and conditioned, and secondly, as a contingent strand in history with starting points all over the globe. This seminar is NOT about Europe/Europeans in the world, but about how cultural encounters all over the world created a sense of global connectedness and togetherness resp. unsurmountable differences at the beginning of what has been termed modernity: 1700? 1789? 1815???. Against this background the seminar focuses on chronologies, but more importantly the effects of encounters as they played out in practices: sexual, political, medical, economical, familial, pedagogical, material, religious and many more practices (including actors). The many centers of early modern global history pertain to regions, sources, methods of investigation, artifacts, people, age groups, gendered communities. In redefining crucial concepts of (European) global history (expansion to name an important one in German history), this class will look at what happens if these concepts are transferred to non-European settings. In turn, X-centrism or X-centricism is not and has never been a European privilege. Following the historical investigation, the class will investigate historiographical concepts of Euro-/Asia-/Afro-/Americo - centrism. close