Property in one’s own body and in the bodies of others in the United States between the eighteenth and twentieth century.
Outline
The project explores the ownership of others’ bodies based on the history of slavery in the USA. It focuses, firstly, on the question of how humans were made into objects of property and how that situation was transposed from the colonial era into the property structure of the new USA and legitimised as a racist social order.
Secondly, the project investigates the desire of the enslaved to become subjects of property – primarily, by buying themselves back. Thirdly, it examines the causal relationship between slavery and modern-day inequality of ownership through the lens of the current debate on reparation payments for the descendants of slaves.
Project activities
Events
- Felix Krämer, Grit Grigoleit-Richter (Passau) and Moana J. Packo, “Whiteness as Property: Histories and Practices of Racial Capitalism.” Workshop for the Annual Meeting of the German Association of American Studies (GAAS/DGfA), “America and Ownership: Territory, Slavery Jubilee,” Universität Rostock, June 1-3, 2023.
- Helen Gibson, Sebastian Jobs and Nadja Klopprogge, “‘Knowing/Refusing ‘Value’: Reclaiming Kinship at the Expense of Capital.” Workshop for the Annual Meeting of the GAAS/DGfA, Universität Rostock, June 1-3, 2023
- Helen Gibson, Sofia Bianchi Mancini, Dirk Schuck, and Markus Vinzent, “Relating to Land.” Workshops co-conducted via the Sonderforschungsbereich / Transregio SFB TRR 294 “Strukturwandel des Eigentums” at Universität Erfurt, Nov. 4, 2022 and April 28, 2023.
- Helen Gibson and Barbara Lüthi, “Race and Propertization” Conference co-organized via the SFB TRR 294 and the Historisches Seminar of Universität Erfurt at the Kleine Synagoge in Erfurt with contributions by Mia Bay, Cedric Essi, Helen Gibson and M.J. Packo, Nov. 18-19, 2021.
- Helen Gibson, Verena Wolf and Petra Gümplová, “Property ‘Objects’ and their Discontents.” Workshop co-conducted via the SFB TRR 294 at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Nov. 12, 2021
Publications
- Gibson, Helen A., “The Cosmogram as Alternative to Property for the Eigentumslosen,” in: Relating to Land, edited by Helen A. Gibson, Sofia Bianchi Mancini, Dirk Schuck, and Markus Vinzent. Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag (forthcoming 2024).
- Krämer, Felix, Leben auf Kredit. Menschen, Macht und Schulden in den USA vom Ende der Sklaverei bis in die Gegenwart, Frankfurt am Main: Campus 2024 (will be published in the SFB series „Strukturwandel des Eigentums“ – forthcoming).
- Conference report from Anna Möllers on the event “Race and Propertization”. Published via H-Soz-Kult (26.01.2022)
- Felix Krämer, Grit Grigoleit-Richter (Passau) und Moana J. Packo, „Whiteness as Property: Histories and Practices of Racial Capitalism.“ Workshop für das Jahrestreffen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien (GAAS/DGfA), “America and Ownership: Territory, Slavery Jubilee,” Universität Rostock. (1.-3. Juni 2023)
- Helen Gibson, Sebastian Jobs und Nadja Klopprogge, „‘Knowing/Refusing ‘Value’: Reclaiming Kinship at the Expense of Capital.“ Workshop für das Jahrestreffen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien (GAAS/DGfA), Universität Rostock. (1.-3. Juni 2023)
- Helen Gibson, Sofia Bianchi Mancini, Dirk Schuck, and Markus Vinzent, “Relating to Land.” gemeinsam durchgeführte Workshops mit Sonderforschungsbereich / Transregio SFB TRR 294 “Strukturwandel des Eigentums” an der Universität Erfurt. (04.11.2022 und 28.04.2023)
- Helen Gibson und Barbara Lüthi, "Race and Propertization", Gemeinsame Tagung des SFB TRR 294 und des Historischen Seminars der Universität Erfurt in der Kleinen Synagoge in Erfurt mit Beiträgen von Mia Bay, Cedric Essi, Helen Gibson und M.J. Packo. (18.-19.11.2021)
Lectures
- Gibson, Helen. “Spiritual Breath in Granny Midwifery.” Paper prepared for the Biennial Conference of the Nordic Association of American Studies (NAAS), Uppsala Universitet, Uppsala, Sweden, May 25-27, 2023.
- Krämer, Felix. “Expropriated Freedoms: Indebtedness after the End of the Civil War,” Annual Meeting of the German Association of American Studies (GAAS/DGfA), “America and Ownership: Territory, Slavery Jubilee,” Universität Rostock, June 2, 2023.
- Packo, Moana J. “On Time and Redress: ‘40 Acres and a Mule’ in Memory and Legacy” (forthcoming). To be presented as part of the panel “Whiteness as Property: Histories and Practices of Racial Capitalism” at the Annual Meeting of the GAAS/DGfA, Universität Rostock, June 2, 2023.
- Martschukat, Jürgen. “Eine historisierende Betrachtung von Identitätspolitik” at the conference Geschichte der Gegenwart – Gegenwart der Geschichte, Universität Siegen, November 17-19, 2022.
