Abstract
Accommodating both decolonization and diversity in reshaping German Studies brings together two potentially incommensurable discourses. A chasm opens up when decolonization is first, repeatedly taken up metaphorically as a “decolonization of the mind,” and second, made commensurate with diversity frameworks. Both impulses in the decolonization of German Studies appear to be at odds with Decolonial Studies. In this essay, we first map out the conflict between decolonization as “decolonization of the mind” and decolonization as theorized by Indigenous Decolonial scholars. We then engage with challenges Decolonial Studies pose to German Studies specifically. Finally, we examine practices in our field that contribute to the continued erasure of Indigenous life.
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- 1.
Patrick Wolfe defines “settler colonialism [as] an inclusive, land-centred project that coordinates a comprehensive range of agencies, from the metropolitan centre to the frontier encampment, with a view to eliminating Indigenous societies” (Wolfe 2006, p. 393).
- 2.
“The commons is an organization of human activity that ‘vests all property in the community and organizes labor for the common benefit of all.’ Thus, the commons is much more than a resource: it is a practice-a practice of commoning” (Linebaugh as cited in Sharma and Wright 2008, p. 131).
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Manthripragada, A., Mušanović, E. (2020). Accounting for Our Settler Colonialism: Toward an Unsettled German Studies in the United States. In: Criser, R., Malakaj, E. (eds) Diversity and Decolonization in German Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34342-2_2
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