Friedrich Rosen

Diplomat, Orientalist, and German foreign minister: Friedrich Rosen (1856-1935) was an Orient expert par excellence in the age of German imperialism. His story is told here for the first time. Following his rise to the centres of international politics and Orientalist scholarship, this study argues that power and knowledge sustained, challenged and subverted each other

Von Persophonie zum Arier-Mythos : orientalistische Zugänge zu einem globalgeschichtlichen Phänomen

Zwischen dem 19. und der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts zerfiel in Asien und in Teilen Asiens und Europa unter dem Druck des europäischen Imperialismus und im Zuge des aufkommenden Nationalismus die Persophonie. Gleichzeitig verbreitete sich im gleichen Gebiet und darüber hinaus der Arier-Mythos. Der Aufsatz verfolgt diesen Übergang entlang der Wissensproduktionen von europäischen Orientalisten und anderen Gelehrten, die diese Entwicklung maßgeblich mitprägten, und bietet einen Überblick der verschieden Fortentwicklungen des Arier-Mythos nach dem Holocaust zwischen Indien, dem Iran, Zentralasien und Europa, und wie diese auch in der heutigen global verflochtenen Welt ihre Strahlkraft in verschiedenen Ausprägungen beibehalten haben

boasblog papers. Thinking About the Archive & Provenance Research

In the debate about the colonial past of ethnographic museums in Western Europe, provenance research has emerged as a central method for researching colonial legacies and addressing museums’ need for decolonisation. Researchers have started to investigate colonial era collections systematically to create a sound basis for dealing with these collections in the future. As a consequence, they are increasingly seen as archives in themselves. What has been lacking, however, is a debate about the theoretical implications of this approach – what are the implications of such an archival perspective and what kinds of knowledge can provenance research create? To find answers to this question, the authors of this volume engage with a range of materials – from the famous Benin Royal Collections to a seemingly insignificant Egyptian doll. They approach these materials sometimes on a theoretical, sometimes on a very practical level to offer their different visions of what a theoretically grounded provenance research may look like

Friedrich Rosen. Orientalist Scholarship and International Politics

Theilhaber A. Friedrich Rosen. Orientalist Scholarship and International Politics. Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg; 2020.The German lacuna in Edward Said’s 'Orientalism' has produced varied studies of German cultural and academic Orientalisms. So far the domains of German politics and scholarship have not been conflated to probe the central power/knowledge nexus of Said’s argument. Seeking to fill this gap, the diplomatic career and scholarly-literary productions of the centrally placed Friedrich Rosen serve as a focal point to investigate how politics influenced knowledge generated about the “Orient” and charts the roles knowledge played in political decision-making regarding extra-European regions. This is pursued through analyses of Germans in British imperialist contexts, cultures of lowly diplomatic encounters in Middle Eastern cities, Persian poetry in translation, prestigious Orientalist congresses in northern climes, leveraging knowledge in high-stakes diplomatic encounters, and the making of Germany’s Islam policy up to the Great War. Politics drew on bodies of knowledge and could promote or hinder scholarship. Yet, scholars never systemically followed empire in its tracks but sought their own paths to cognition. On their own terms or influenced by “Oriental” savants they aligned with politics or challenged claims to conquest and rule

Migration and Security in the Eastern Mediterranean

Theilhaber A. Migration and Security in the Eastern Mediterranean. Migration and the security sector paper series. Brüssel: DCAF: a centre for security, development and the rule of law; 2013.This paper provides an overview of the nexus of migration and security with a focus on the EU's migration policy and its effects on migrant security and migration flows in the Eastern Mediterranean from the mid-2000s to the Arab Spring and its aftermath. Initial recipient countries of migrants of the Eastern Mediterranean take in migrants for internal or external political reasons. Migrants are generally afforded little means by the state to integrate and are often discriminated against by society. The legal administration of migrants in the region is often delegated to international organisations, such as UNHCR and IOM, and social services (health care, education, legal assistance, nutritional assistance etc.) are provided by CSOs and migrant networks often with limited resources and vulnerable to conflict. Smugglers and migrant networks provide exit routes to Europe or other destinations for desperate, ambitious or more mobile migrants. This paper suggests that the EU's assistance to transit countries in strengthening their border systems should be supplemented by actively engaging transit countries on a policy, legal and financial level. Local integration should be supported in close cooperation between the EU, transit country authorities, UNHCR, IOM and CSOs, and matched by an increase in controlled immigration to the EU from transit countries according to vulnerability categories and skilled labour needs. Civil perception and categorisation of migrants as either dangerous (irregular immigrant) or vulnerable (refugee), should be complemented by an appreciation of migrants as political and economic actors, culminating in the engagement of migrants on an equal footing. Given protracted conflicts in countries of emigration, the paper concludes that a lack of proactive EU foreign migration policy towards transit countries bordering the Mediterranean, results in an overly intensive securitisation of the EU's external borders as a tool to repel economic migrants and refugees

Von Persophonie zum Arier-Mythos. Orientalistische Zugänge zu einem globalgeschichtlichen Phänomen

Theilhaber A. Von Persophonie zum Arier-Mythos. Orientalistische Zugänge zu einem globalgeschichtlichen Phänomen. Jahrbuch für Antisemitismusforschung. 2020;29:207-230

On the Egyptian Revolution: E-Mail Discussions by Two Former Cairo Flatmates

Theilhaber A, Reda M. On the Egyptian Revolution: E-Mail Discussions by Two Former Cairo Flatmates. The critical stage : young voices on crucial topics . 2016;6(1).Only a few weeks after the outbreak of the Egyptian Revolution in January 2011, Amir Heinitz, a German historian and political scientist with an Israeli background, and Marian Reda, an Egyptian doctor, became flatmates in Cairo, not far from Tahrir Square. Ever since Heinitz left Egypt in the summer of 2011, his and Reda’s friendship has continued via e-mail. Heinitz and Reda decided to make excerpts of their e-mail correspondence available as a contribution to The Critical Stage. These e-mails cover the time span from 2011 to 2013 and are a personal, at times very emotional account of the impact the revolution has had on both of the authors’ lives. At the same time, the protagonists are dealing with everyday issues and – like many of their generation – are looking for meaningful perspectives in their lives

Innenschau der imperialgeschichtlichen Bestände Friedrich Rosens in Detmold

Theilhaber A. Innenschau der imperialgeschichtlichen Bestände Friedrich Rosens in Detmold. In: Bischoff S, Frey B, Neuwöhner A, eds. Koloniale Welten in Westfalen. Studien und Quellen zur westfälischen Geschichte. Vol 89. Paderborn: Brill ; Schöningh; 2021: 249-269