The picture shows the Genocide Memorial in Windhoek, Namibia which commemorates the extermination order against Ovaherero and Nama following their rising aganist German rule in Namibia. The Genocide memorial is made of stone with a plaque showing people being hanged and german officers with guns standing in front of them. Atop the memorial two bronze figures raise their fists. On the stone it reads “Their Blood Waters our Freedom”
The Genocide Memorial in Windhoek commemorates the extermina-tion order against Ovaherero and Nama following their rising against German rule in Namibia, 04 September 2018. | Photo: © picture alliance / imageBROKER | Thomas Sbampato.

Dealing with Germany’s First Genocide: Why Bilateral Negotiations with Namibia Failed and What the New Government Must Do

Since the end of the last Bundestag session it has become clear that although projected in the coalition agreement, the Scholz government has not taken significant steps towards dealing with Germany’s colonial past in Namibia. A Joint Declaration fell victim to the early elections in Germany. This spotlight presents data from a representative survey showing that dealing with the colonial past in Namibia has no priority for Germans, which might explain why the Scholz government shied away from making the case an election issue. The spotlight identifies key take-away points on what went wrong and what a new German government should do better.

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Plaque on a wall reading: We Are one Nation One Tribe Kenyan.
While avocating for stability abroad, education in Kenya avoids addressing past concflicts. | Photo: Meredith Whye

The Politics of Teaching Conflict: Memory and Education in Kenya

Kenya has worked to position itself as a global and regional peace maker, however these efforts stand in contrast to its ability to handle peace internally. Continued political violence has impacted Kenyan governance, yet new school curricula remain largely silent, particularly on the 2007/2008 post-election violence and broader patterns of state repression. Despite total education overhaul, education in Kenya avoids addressing past conflicts instead using vague calls for peace. Drawing on interviews with Kenyan educators, post-conflict education in Kenya will be examined as a vehicle for peace that ignores the question of why peace is needed.

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Photo of a wooden box with yellowed index cards
Documentation of skeletal remains in Göttingen's University anthropological collection. The existing archival information is in most cases scarce and lacking information about the individual person to whom the human remains belonged. | Photo: J. Kurzwelly

Bones of Injustice: Political Frictions in Restitutions of Human Remains from Colonial Contexts

In recent years, many museums and universities have begun to address past colonial injustices by critically examining their collections of human remains, often leading to their restitution to their assumed countries of origins. Such efforts are usually framed as acts of recognition, reconciliation, and repair. However, the diverse difficulties and frictions that accompany restitutions often escape public attention. This post introduces some of such difficulties that need to be taken into account to understand the complexity of restitution processes.

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Protesters holding up signs, the visible signs read: The 1904-1908 genocide of the Ovaherero and Namas is the first 20th century genocide, and: Ovaherero and Nama peoples are victims of genocide committed by Germany from 1904-1908.
Protest von Ovaherero- und Nama-Vertreter*innen und -Aktivist*innen in Berlin, 16.10.16 | Foto: Joachim Zeller via Berlin Postkolonial, flickr | CC BY-ND 2.0

Es steht schlecht um die namibisch-deutsche Versöhnung und die koloniale Aufarbeitung

Die gemeinsame Erklärung der Bundesregierung und der namibischen Regierung zur kolonialen Aufarbeitung scheint vor dem Aus zu stehen. Nachdem die Verhandlungen 2021 mit der Formulierung der gemeinsamen Erklärung zunächst Fortschritte erzielten, scheint sich nun wegen der vorgezogenen Wahlen das Zeitfenster für ihre Verabschiedung in Deutschland zu schließen. Damit ist zu erwarten, dass auch der 2015 von der großen Koalition begonnene staatliche Versöhnungsprozess stagniert bzw. sein Ende gefunden haben könnte. Zu einem Wahlkampfgegenstand scheint jedenfalls derzeit keine Partei das Thema machen zu wollen. Dass eine neue Regierung unter christdemokratischer Führung nochmals eine Initiative wagt, darf bezweifelt werden. Wie kam es dazu?

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Abbildung einer indigenen Frau, zusammengesetzt aus vielen einzelnen Portraitfotos
Gender based violence and Indigenous resilience need to gain visibility. | Image: “Still Dancing” © Jonathan Labillois

Time for True Stories: Stereotypes Absolve Gendered Violence against Indigenous in Canada

Across North America, May 5 is a day to commemorate the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, and gender diverse people. Beyond giving space for remembrance and mourning, May 5 is connected to the aims of building knowledge, raising public awareness, stimulating solidarity and underlining the need for action to end the disproportionate deadly violence. While politics and the judicial system are reminded on this day to deliver rights and justice, another important factor for change should also gain attention: the collective imagery of the Indigenous needs to be decolonized to transform the systemic structures of violence.

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