Bridging the Black Freedom Struggle: German and U.S.-American Perspectives

• Applicant: Dr. Nicole Hirschfelder, since 8/2023
• Subject Area: European and American Literary and Cultural Studies ; Protestant Theology ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 468043020

The interdisciplinary network brings together German and U.S. scholars of American Studies, History, and Theology to work on the Black freedom struggle, understood as the long Civil Rights Movement, from a decidedly transatlantic perspective, i. e. Germany and the U.S. The network thus seeks to establish bridges between both countries, various disciplines,perspectives, anddifferent eras (CRM until today). Overall, the aim of the network is twofold: (1) to revisit selected aspects of the history and historiography of the Black freedom struggle. In doing so, we view the work toward Black liberation not just as a protest movement but conceptualize it as an on-going social movement, situating it at the nexus between history, cultural studies, and theology; (2) to highlight its continuing relevance not just in the U.S. but also in Europe and Germany in particular. Hence, we seek to uncover the historical and current socio-cultural readings of Blackness and whiteness. The network encompasses 14 members and 5 guest experts who – over the course of 2.5 years – focus on three key themes: mobilities, agencies, and representations. These themes will guide our three workshops dealing with Germany’s role in the Black Atlantic, leadership hierarchies and the role of the Black Church within the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as new impulses of a transatlantic and diverse memory culture of the Black freedom struggle. An international conference will build on our workshops, both testing the transatlantic bridges and opening the dialogue through external scholars.The persistent existence of white supremacy and (unmarked) whiteness makes the continuation of the Black freedom struggle necessary to this day. The critical (self-)reflection on whiteness of the members as well as the diversity of topics with regard to various aspects contributes to less discriminatory practice in scholarship. Thus, the network also gives salience to racialized issues in Germany and critically discusses implications of Germany’s (self-)perception and (re)presentation as white, untouched by blackness, colonialism, and slavery. Analyzing the scope of the Black freedom struggle entails a transnational perspective. Yet, U.S. scholars tend to only use English language (re)sources that makes it nearly impossible to look beyond national and ethnic borders. Our network adds to the predominantly English-speaking discourse, not just in terms of our language skills but mainly in terms of further diversifying and contributing to the debates that have shaped the (reception of the) Black freedom struggle outside the U.S. context. Accordingly, the network members assume a double role when ‘bridging’ the gap over the Atlantic, i. e. as mediators of scholarly discussions and by bringing in their respective perspective without falling into the trap of privileging a homogenous narrative.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Jana Weiß, Ph.D., from 10/2021 until 7/2023