LFU:online

Knowledge of socialism as one of the formative ideologies and social forms of the 20th century and related current academic debates; understanding of the possibilities and limitations of selected global historical approaches, including entanglements and transfers, actor-centered approaches, and global biographies.

The understanding of globalization as an exclusively Western or capitalist process has recently been challenged: rather, there has been (and still is) a whole range of globalizations, or at least projects of globalization. The alternative project with the greatest reach was socialism: in the second half of the 20th century, more than half of the world's population lived, at least temporarily, in socialist states. Contrary to Karl Marx's assumption, however, socialism had prevailed not in the capitalist center but in the periphery: first in Russia and, after World War II, in the countries of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This geographical expansion was accompanied by a diversification of socialist concepts and practices. The lectures will discuss the subsequent circulation of ideas, resources and people in the "socialist world system" and the dynamics of transfers, alliances and rivalries using examples from Albania to Zanzibar between 1917 and 1991. Individual lectures will focus on specific issues, including anti/racism, anti/imperialism and decolonization, migration, labor, gender and development.

Lecture and discussion.

Written examination in the final session.

This course is also considered Extra-European History I or II for students of the curriculum BA History (2009). In this case, a reduced workload applies.

The lecture will be held in English. In the written examination, students may respond to the questions in English or German.