The current work in progress of our historical subprojects explores voluntariness in local historical contexts, in negotiations surrounding migration, in postcolonial settings as well as in different time periods or world regions. In the upcoming summer term, team members will discuss the intersections of various aspects of voluntariness in their respective case studies within the group and with distinguished experts from the respective fields of research. The projects focusing on contemporary and global history share, among other things, the one crucial question: how did notions and practices of voluntariness change in modernity and late modernity?
On April 18, 2023, at 6pm at the Kleine Synagoge Erfurt, Thomas Lindenberger will give an evening lecture that traces notions of civic engagement and volunteering back to the 19th century and relates it to civic society as well as to notions of voluntariness of the late 20th century. In his talk, he will reflect on contemporary notions of voluntariness as a form of government as well as on ongoing research in the field of voluntary engagement.
Thomas Lindenberger is professor at the TU Dresden and director of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies. His work is broad and has enriched the fields of the history of everyday life, the history of communism and post-communist transformation, the history of memory and experience, the history of public order and policing as well as the concept of “Eigen-Sinn” – fields very noteworthy for our research in voluntariness. We cordially invite you to attend the evening lecture in the prayer room of the Kleine Synagoge Erfurt!
