This article discusses conflicts surrounding queer memory. It argues that an empirical focus on feelings allows historians to address concerns arising from identity politics, while avoiding the dangers of anachronistic appropriation of the past and the pitfall of ‘victim hierarchies’. The article first addresses the concept of identity politics and the dispute between ‘objective’ academic culture and activist ‘subjectivity’. It then discusses queer- and memory-theoretical perspectives on affects and emotions, before examining the past feelings of those who are to be remembered, and the present feelings of those who wish to remember them. To this end, it focuses on the Nazi persecution of same-sex loving and gender-nonconforming people, paying particular attention to debates around memorials in Ravensbrück, Berlin and Vienna since the 1980s. The article concludes that intertwining outrage and reflection, identification and doubt, a sense of belonging and grief, enables a form of emotional criticism that can resolve conflicts surrounding identity politics.
Die Geschichte der Gefühle ist zugleich ein traditionelles und ein immer noch recht neues Feld. Zwar geht sie in ihren Anfängen ins 18. Jahrhundert zurück, einen rasanten Aufschwung nahm sie jedoch erst in den 2000er-Jahren. Dieser führte dann rasch zu einer, wenn auch in gewisser Weise beschränkten, Institutionalisierung des Forschungsansatzes und verlief parallel zu einer Emotionalisierung des öffentlichen Lebens. So braucht die Bedeutung von Emotionen in Politik und sozialen Medien, die Warnung vor einer Dominanz des Gefühls in Debatten um rechtsdemagogischen Hass und „woke“ Empfindlichkeit wohl kaum weiter ausgeführt zu werden. Diesen diagnostizierten Gefahren steht eine verbreitete Sehnsucht nach starken Gefühlen gegenüber, nach Gefühlen, die über Sprache und Repräsentation hinausgehen und den Menschen im Innersten ergreifen und aufwühlen, die Authentizität versprechen und Entscheidungen, ja sogar Wissen bestätigen. Immer öfter wird, auch in akademischen Diskussionen, „I think“ von „I feel“ abgelöst.
After an initial stage in global history that focused on movements and encounters, and a subsequent revisionist stage that studied those that did not occur, interest has shifted towards a detailed analysis of what did and did not move and why. Of special interest are the instances when actors claimed decisive influences of ideas that cannot be traced in the sources or, on the contrary, when they marked their ideas as a counter-programme despite common assumptions being traceable. This article argues that considering emotions and paying attention to the resonances and atmospheres that they caused and were caused by allows us to trace in more detail which knowledge became plausible across different spaces. Finally, this approach enables us to challenge linear notions of space and critique binary notions of scale (micro/macro) in a global history of emotions.
Across the disciplines, from anthropology, sociology, and history to primatology, social psychology, transcultural psychiatry, social neuroscience, and neurophilosophy, there is a growing consensus among researchers of emotions and senses that biology and culture are dynamically related and entangled in the production of meaningful human experience. There is broad agreement about the importance of situated conceptual development, social structure, and material culture and there are emerging signs of collaborative research being undertaken to capitalize on this consensus. However, a number of obstacles remain. This article envisions a role for historical research as a stakeholder and wayfinder in a transdisciplinary space that transcends emotion research.
Race, racism and antisemitism are not just abstract concepts. Rather, they owe their power and persistence to their emotional and physical manifestations. This article examines how these concepts were learned emotionally and physically within German völkisch circles in the early twentieth century (1900–1933). Race has particularly been widely ignored in the history of emotions and the body in the German-speaking region due to its association with National Socialism. However, this has led to an overly limited understanding of race. Its affective and somatic dimensions reveal the inherent interconnectedness of race with racism and antisemitism. Through the lens of phenomenological and ontological approaches to affect and the body from anthropology and critical philosophy of race, this contribution reads historical sources on so-called rune gymnastics and traces the historical continuities of race, racism and antisemitism as an emotional and somatic repertoire.
What makes an exhibit auratic? Do historical perspectives in exhibitions tend to create distance from, or interest in, the subject matter? How can intensities and force fields arise in exhibition constellations? And how can a broad, diverse audience with very different emotional and rational expectations and attitudes towards museums be addressed? These are some of the questions discussed in this interview with the philosopher and exhibition curator Daniel Tyradellis. The aim of this contribution is to critically examine the current useological assumption that a new affective curatorship is emerging in museums and exhibitions in the West.
This contribution is concerned with how emotions and temporality relate to one another in the context of the history of the self. For this purpose, the article draws on the concept of chronocenosis to make sense of the life stories told by adoptees born between 1950 and 1985 and raised in West Germany. Starting from psychological insights into the cultural specificity of life stories, the contribution presents an overview of contemporaneous developmental psychology knowledge and interfamilial practices like regarding albums. Against this backdrop, it explores the role of emotions and sensory perceptions in dealing with early childhood in life stories – a period in life which, for most adoptees, cannot be assessed through the narratives of parents and other relatives.
This article discusses the historiography of the cultural historian Karl Lamprecht (1856–1915), a key figure in the interdisciplinary ‘Leipzig School’ school of thought at the turn of the century. It shows the complex scientific and socio-political upheavals during which reflections on feelings occurred, alongside the politics that unfolded. Even though Lamprecht’s psychologically informed approach to history incorporated emotions, it did not inspire long-term engagement with the study of the history of emotions. However, his widely read work fostered continued interest in the subject of feelings. Lamprecht’s examination of emotions is therefore not only an example of the temporality of historical thought. The controversial nature of his work within the discipline, coupled with its broad public resonance, invites us to reflect more intensely on the relationship between the conception of history and public reception.
This article demonstrates that emotions mattered to academics and academia more broadly. As demonstrated by the case of the Vitelli-Schiaparelli family, emotional connections affected every stage of academic production and life, involving extended families and circles of friends. In the face of conflict, these connections defined expectations, at once exacerbating antagonisms and providing a ground to overcome them. Crucially, they led to the conflation of work and life, elevating academia as an environment and its members above others – at least in terms of their self-perceived moral value – sometimes enhancing people’s lives and purpose, and at other times devastating them.
This article argues that, owing to its increasingly politicized conceptual nature, there is currently a risk that the actual work of integration and its history of sociability are no longer recognized or considered as the basis of self-perception. One indication of this is the particular pressure under which intercultural situations are placed today. An example of this is the emotional response to the question: ‘Where are you from originally?’. Wellknown authors such as Mithu Sanyal consider this question to be discriminatory because it reveals a racist mindset: namely, that people with a history of immigration are not seen as belonging to German society. In the 1980s, however, this question had the opposite meaning as a conversation starter. One reason for this change is that stereotypes and prejudices are now clearly seen as signs of structural racism and are addressed as such. Nevertheless, stereotypes and attributions have never been the sole basis for talking about others, positioning oneself in relation to them, or, in the worst case, devaluing them. In the history of migration, they have also served as occasions and topics for discussion and rapprochement on a social and individual level. The Intercultural Week, for example, is a low-threshold event reflecting such a history of contact as one of sociability between long-established immigrants and their descendants. From the 1970s to the present day, it shows a history of integration that has not yet been adequately represented in discourse or politics.
Talk with Lauren Stokes, historian at Northwestern University (Illinois), about her book "Fear of the Family, Guest Workers and Family Migration in the Federal Republic of Germany" (Oxford University Press 2022).
In this article, I examine two episodes of policy-making in the field of deportation policy, in 1990 and 2005, in the context of prevailing social, economic, and border policy dynamics in Austria. In both cases, the emergence of a specific deportable subject served larger issues. In 1990 the construct of the ‘economic refugee’ shifted the focus towards migration management. In 2005 the notion of asylum abuse distracted from the government’s competitive and polarizing political approach.
Ausgehend von migrationsbezogenen Deutungskämpfen und begriffs- und diskursgeschichtlichen Veränderungen widmet sich dieses Themenheft der Frage, wie sich in und durch die Auseinandersetzung mit Migration gesellschaftliche Selbstverständigungsdebatten und Grenzziehungen wandelten. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf deutschsprachigen Debatten über Migration seit den 1970er-Jahren, die vor allem aufgrund europäischer Anwerbestopps gemeinhin als migrationshistorische Zäsur gelten. Ohne die Bedeutung dieser Zäsur relativieren zu wollen, rückt dieses Heft stärker Veränderungen in den Blick, die in den 1980er- und 1990er-Jahren einsetzten – durch das Ende des Kalten Krieges, durch neue Globalisierungs- und Europäisierungsschübe, die massive Politisierung der Asylthematik und das Erstarken rechtsnationaler Parteien sowie dadurch, dass viele europäische Gesellschaften erst im späten 20. Jahrhundert begannen, sich als Migrationsgesellschaften zu verstehen.
The introduction of the term “migration background” was a pivotal moment in the debates on immigration in Switzerland within a transnational context in the early 2000s. This paper explores the historical evolution and implications of this category, which was introduced by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office in the 1990s to more accurately reflect demographic changes resulting from global migration. The adoption of the term was driven by the need to consider intergenerational integration processes beyond mere citizenship status. The study highlights the role of national and international statistical practices, as well as the socio-political debates that have shaped the understanding and application of the phrase “migration background” in public discourse, social practices, and policy. Adopting a post-migrant perspective, the contribution underscores the ambivalence of the term, which simultaneously made the diverse realities of immigration more visible while perpetuating distinctions that could lead to exclusion. Using the Swiss example, the paper provides insights into the broader European context and the transnational dimensions of migration and integration policies and their histories.
Between late 1939 and spring 1941, Polish and Jewish families from the annexed western Polish territories were deported to the General Government. This article examines two main aspects of these early deportations before the Holocaust: firstly, the experiences and chances of escape for the two groups differed significantly, with Jewish families facing harsher treatment and fewer opportunities to avoid deportation. Secondly, it emphasizes the importance of analysing in detail the living conditions of deported families, as the chances of survival of Jewish families in the General Government were different from those of the local Jewish population. Despite deteriorating conditions, many deportees adapted, although their situation changed dramatically with the onset of the Holocaust.
This article examines the relationship between ecological movements and far-right ideologies in Austria. It focuses on Günther Schwab, a highly decorated environmental protection pioneer and writer, who is presented as an example of the ecological right combining völkisch ideologies, biologism, and social Darwinism with nature and environmental protection issues throughout the twentieth century. As well as looking at Schwab’s involvement in National Socialism, the article shows how he integrated right-wing ecology into new environmental movements, such as the anti-nuclear movement, in the post-war period. This analysis of the long tradition of the ecological right aims to raise awareness that protecting nature and the environment has never been exclusively the domain of the left, but that right-wing actors have also been involved.
With a specific focus on labour migrants from other socialist countries who came to the GDR from the 1960s onwards, this article explores how interculturality and integration were addressed in East German society, both politically and in daily life. Against this backdrop, the concept of “peoples’ friendship”, originally employed within the scope of foreign affairs, became increasingly important. The article analyses the ambitions and limitations of this concept as manifested during the Honecker era, discussing its possible consequences beyond the historical watershed of 1989-90. In doing so, it links research on a specific GDR context with the broader question of the power and powerlessnesss of language in intercultural communication and integration.
In 1907 the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire became the first state in the world to elect women to its national parliament. This paper explores an overlooked part of the process that led to Finnish women attaining full suffrage, which is their own agency in the production of knowledge arguing for universal suffrage in the conjuncture of local intra-imperial and global inter-imperial politics and circuits of knowledge. In the process, Finnish women activists from across the political spectrum developed a particular theory of history and progress, a theory that ran against the grain of patriarchal sovereign power, metropolitan democracy, and incrementalist and teleological understandings of progress. It tied the argument for full women’s suffrage to the global position of the grand ducal state and the socalled Finnish Question. The concept of democratization that emerged from the theorization of Finnish women’s activists dissociates and undermines earlier, more unequal forms of democracy. Building on previous literature on the international dimension of suffrage activism in Finland, I argue that the role of these women as producers of global historical knowledge is an integral part of explaining democratization in Finland in 1905/06.
This article historicizes the spatial, emotional, and material knowledge practices in women’s/gender studies of the 1970s and 1980s, situating them within the synchronous contexts of the time. It suggests that focusing on sensory experiences and aesthetics is key to understanding the specific nature of politics and academia at that time. This shifts the focus away from clear timelines, breaks in memory and forgetting, and towards the reflexivity and self-reflexivity of politics and academia.
Unter dem Titel „Situated Disciplines. Gender und Women’s Studies im Archiv“ boten Dietlind Hüchtker und Friedrich Cain im Studienjahr 2023/24 ein zweisemestriges Lehr- und Forschungsprojekt an, in dem sie mit den Studierenden die historischen Kontexte dieser auch für andere Institutionalisierungsprozesse so relevanten Frage erforschen wollten. Das Seminar sollte den Teilnehmer*innen Gelegenheit geben, mit historischem Interviewmaterial zu arbeiten und dabei eigene Projekte zur Geschichte der Women’s und Gender Studies in den USA zu entwickeln. Um zu erkunden, welche Erfahrungen Lehrende und Studierende mit diesem ambitionierten Ansatz des integrierten Lernens und Forschens gemacht haben, hat Johanna Gehmacher ein einstündiges Gruppeninterview mit vier der beteiligten Studierenden und den beiden Lehrveranstaltungsleiter*innen geführt. Dabei ging es nicht nur darum herauszufinden, welche Interessen und Hoffnungen auf spezifische Erkenntnisgewinne seitens der Lehrenden in die Planung und Entwicklung des Projekts eingingen, sondern auch die Erwartungen und Erfahrungen der Studierenden kennenzulernen.
