Autor: Forum Transregionale Studien
By Denys Shatalov. The monuments we encounter in a territory tell us not so much about its past as about present ideology. The new study by Mischa Gabowitsch and Mykola Homanyuk, “Monuments and Territory. War Memorials in Russian-Occupied Ukraine” explores the fate of war memorials in the Russian-occupied territories during the first year of the ongoing full-scale war. The authors focus on war memorials honouring different eras and conflicts, from the medieval battle of Kalka to the Soviet War in Afghanistan and the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Eastern Ukraine (2014–2022), erected in Soviet times or during Ukrainian independence.
By Anna Christina Scheiter. With the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the brutal violence with which the regime had held on to power for 54 years came increasingly and overwhelmingly into the public eye. The Hama massacre in February 1982 is a momentous example of this violence. This central and defining event of Assad’s rule, which was a strong taboo for decades and has never been discussed or dealt with publicly, is now openly and freely commemorated for the first time and the victims are mourning on the occasion of its 43rd anniversary in February 2025. Addressing the Assad regime’s atrocities of the last 54 years openly at last and seeking justice for its victims is central for social reconciliation and a basis for the establishment of a new collective identity after the end of the dictatorship.
By Zoe Wineck and Hunadah Al Hariri. The authors start by introducing the field of Global History, explaining its shortcomings regarding epistemic invisibility, and the real-world impact of the field. In the following, they look at how war caused disabilities as a form of colonial subjugation. More specifically, they look at the case of Israel-Palestine and argue that the state of Israel, since its establishment in 1948, has consistently used the maiming of Palestinians as a colonial tool. The history of this practice has been marginalized in historiography but is essential to understanding the conflict today.
Zoya Masoud works at the intersection of postcolonial studies, post-foundational urban theory, and critical heritage studies. As of Autumn 2024, she has taken on the role of postdoctoral researcher within the framework of the ERC-funded project “BEYONDREST,” based at the Forum Transregionale Studien. Her current research initiative is titled Irrestitutable: Inquiries into Hauntings of Absent Cultural Heritage. In October 2024, she successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation entitled “Dislocated. Heritage Construction through Experience of Loss in Aleppo” at the Technical University of Berlin within the DFG Research Training Group “Identity and Heritage.”
By Cyrine Kortas. “Akouda 1943” is the third novel by Tunisian writer Houayda Ben Halima, published in 2017. The story takes place in the author’s hometown during World War II, when Tunisia was a battleground between Axis and Allied forces. Through her unique storytelling that merges history and fiction, Ben Halima informs readers about wartime politics while evoking deep emotional responses through well-developed characters and historical research to reflect on the human condition in times of conflict. For readers seeking a deep dive into the complexities of war through an engaging narrative lens, the novel offers a compelling experience that remains relevant today.
By Rim Naguib. Naguib’s research surveys a process of securitization of nationality and foreigners’ residence, whereby the right to Egyptian nationality and to residence in Egypt were instrumentalized in the colonial and post-colonial policing of leftist internationalist ideas and movements. While analyzing state practice, Naguib also inquires into how this particular policing technique impacted the lives of individuals, and how those who were the most likely targets of deportation resisted their remov-al in different ways. The story of Noémie Canel is one such account.
By Marthe Handå Myhre and Oleksandra Deineko. Since February 2022, thousands of Ukrainians have fled to Europe. Despite the fact that all three Skandinavian countries grant Ukrainian refugees residence permit, the distinct national integration policies continue to shape the everyday life of Ukrainian refugees and their possibilities for integration into the labor market. What signals have the three countries been sending to the Ukrainian refugees through their integration measures, and how does it affect the integration of Ukrainians? Between February and July 2024, the authors conducted interviews with Ukrainian refugees in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, gaining insight into the challenges they are grappling within the three countries resulting from the respective national policies.
Ezgi Özlü is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Strasbourg and a re:constitution fellow of 2024/2025. She holds a PhD from the University of Strasbourg, where her research focused on how procedural costs affect the right of individual application before the European Court of Human Rights. Having published in three languages, Ezgi’s research interests encompass issues related to access to justice, including legal aid, procedural costs, admissibility requirements, and reparations. She is also focused on topics surrounding the legal profession, such as legal mobilisation, legal ethics, and litigation funding, as well as broader procedural aspects of international adjudication.
By Sebastian Conrad. In this moment of rapid political and cultural change, a reassessment of what global history stands for, what it can contribute and where its limits lie is a timely exercise. Global history as a subfield has had a fast and successful career. Virtually unknown at the turn of the century, it has by now acquired an almost ubiquitous presence in the discipline. This first phase, the era of the field’s establishment was followed by a series of critical assessments. In the wake of the financial crisis, and then the worldwide populist turn of the 2010s, the globalizing trends of the previous decades gave way to anti-globalizing movements and talk of a “backlash” and a “decoupling” of the world. What’s next?
By Katarina Ristić, Therese Mager, Constanze Blum and Man Zhang. The rise of populism in the “West” has prompted extensive academic research which often appears oblivious to populism’s historical origins and non-western genealogies. Focusing on populism as a threat to western democracies, much of the research on populism neglects variations and the different contexts within which populism operates in different world regions. In our seminar “Critically Engaging with Populism as a Global Phenomenon,” which we taught during the summer 2024 term for MA students enrolled in Global and European Studies at Leipzig University, we sought to offer broader insights into populism in a global perspective.