Project manager: Dr. Damien Tricoire
For several decades, historians of ideas, philosophers, historians and philologists have discussed the question as to whether the origins of modern colonialism are to be found in the Enlightenment. On the one hand postcolonial authors believe that Enlightenment rationalism delegitimized non-European cultures. On the other hand, other researchers defend at least some philosophes, whom they sometimes qualify as anti-colonialists.
The project “enlightened colonialism” examines more closely than has hitherto been done the question of the relationship between intellectual, social and political history. It explores the positioning of actors in the imperial field, their self-representations and claims. “Enlightenment” is here understood as the claim to contribute to progress. The project examines not only the opinions of the intellectual urban European elites, but also pays attention to the transfers between different regions of the world. The interactions between elites in the mother country and the colonies, and between Europeans and non-Europeans lie at the heart of this study.
An international conference on "Enlightened World Appropriations. Imperial Actors and Scenarios of Change (1750 to 1820)", funded by the excellence program Enlightenment-Religion-Knowledge was held on June 12th - 13th 2015 at the IZEA.
Conference Report
The IZEA is housed within the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. As an institution of advanced study on the cultural and intellectual history of the 18th century, the IZEA contends with a period that laid the foundations of modern western society.
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für die
Erforschung der Europäischen Aufklärung (IZEA)
Franckeplatz 1 // Haus 54
06110 Halle
Deutschland
izea(at)izea.uni-halle.de
Tel.: +49 345 55 21781
Fax: +49 345 55 27252