“Between Choice and Command” – Workshop and Keynote Lecture

How far can we really call colonial migration to and from Europe voluntary? Under which circumstances developed subaltern dynamics of migration across and beyond colonial empires? Can we sketch out indigenous agency? Inspired by those key questions the workshop “Between Choice and Command: Migration and Return Across and Beyond Colonial Empires, 1900-1960” is held at the University of Erfurt, on December 1-2, 2025.

The workshop is organized by Florian Wagner, who conducts one of our subprojects in recent global history, dedicated to transnational processes of (return)migration and repatriation in the second half of the 20th century.

Everybody interested is cordially invited to attend the event. To take part in the workshop on Monday and Tuesday, please register with Florian Wagner via email to florian.wagner@uni-erfurt.de. For the keynote lecture on Monday evening no registration is necessary. The event will be held in English, an online participation is also possible.

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Lecture Series “The Politics of Voluntariness”

What Else Is New?

We Welcome Regula Ludi as Mercator Fellow 2026!

We are delighted to welcome PD Dr. Regula Ludi as a Mercator Fellow of the Research Unit Voluntariness! She will be a visiting scholar at the University of Erfurt from mid-May to early July 2026.

We Welcome Matthias Ruoss as Mercator Fellow 2026!

We are delighted to welcome PD Dr. Matthias Ruoss as a Mercator Fellow of the Research Unit Voluntariness! He will be a visiting scholar at the University of Erfurt from early April to early June 2026.