Subject

Theme

Issues of membership, belonging and social distinction have found varied manifestations over the course of humanity. Historical scholarship has tackled this subject matter from a multitude of perspectives and research angles while emphasizing the aspect which social, political and societal conditions fuel an individual and collective understanding of ‘belonging’, a strive to ‘belong’, acknowledging ‘belonging’ or simply the urge to differ from others. The main concern was to conceive of the collective imagination of belonging to a denomination, a city, a nation, a sex or a class etc. as a form of social construction that acts as a societal structuring category and results in consequences for the participation of humans in the social and political space.

Questions

Social differences likewise manifest themselves in social institutions and discourses: What systems and organizations do societies provide for themselves, how do they reverberate and in what ways are these implemented and substantiated? All these are central research themes of historical scholarship. Our Summer School, jointly organized by the Universities of Bielefeld and Bologna, understands the aforementioned processes as social placing by individuals and groups that is due to the perception of community and reciprocity on the one hand, and attributed social distinction to other groups on the other hand. The evaluation of ‘belonging’ as a social practice is at the heart of the Summer School. This means not to consider ‘belonging’ as something given; rather, we seek to inquire into the practices of constructing and producing this very (sense of) ‘belonging’. What meaning does ‘belonging’ have as a set of notionally collective, legal, normative, or cultural concepts for the specific conduct of actors? In what ways do standards of belonging appear in social practices and how were boundaries between those who belong and those who do not against the backdrop of certain historical constellations drawn? Who are the actors chiefly responsible for this kind of demarcations? What effects have concepts of ‘belonging’ in social negotiation processes?

Perspective

These are some of the pivotal issues of the program that will be tackled in an epoch-spanning perspective. It is hence possible to conceive of the subject matter by means of referring to the ancient world, medieval and early modern history and by taking the 19^th and 20^th century into account, too. Ideally, it will be possible to carve out structural commonalities and/or differences underlying various epochs. Not least, the Summer School stresses the active participation of students and doctoral candidates. Throughout the proceedings of the Summer School, they should have the opportunity to present their projects, ideally in an extra section reserved for them.

Formalities

By means of participation in the summer school, students enrolled in the master program history have the opportunity to acquire credit points for their course of studies. It is possible to integrate the summer school in place of one element within the theory module (“Theorieseminar Transnationale Geschichte, Transfer und Vergleich” or “Interdisziplinäres Theorieseminar”). Which elements and modules are chosen will be determined by individual learning agreements finalized before the summer school. Thereby students can acquire up to 7.5 credit points by attending and participating in the summer school. The working languages will be German, English, and Italian. A link to the entry in the ekvv-system can be found here.

Context and Relevance

The Summer School bears upon two contexts.

1. Since 2012, the Universities of Bielefeld and Bologna offer the master program “Bielefeld-Bologna-Geschichtswissenschaft” (BiBoG) which is also funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Two Summer Schools have already been hosted at Bielefeld University in 2013 (“Between Theory and Empirical Evidence - Manifestations of Fear throughout History”) and 2015 (“Political Participation: Ideas, Forms and Modes since Antiquity”). The current Summer School should hence continue to engage in the established discussions on the overall topic of “inclusion and exclusion”, a perspective equally shared by researchers from Bielefeld and Bologna.
2. The Summer School’s central issue is clearly relevant to the present day. ‘Belonging’ and discussions about it carries immense significance for contemporary debates in both Germany and Italy. For several years now, both countries are experiencing a revival of ‘politics of belonging’ in terms of identity politics that offers a hotbed for populist parties and movements. Specific to the political contents of populism is a split or riven conception of egality. Populism dissociates the ‘domestic people’ from members of other nations or cultures by ostracizing them as supposedly ‘not-belonging’. At present, in German and Italian societies disputes over ‘belonging’ are a volatile part of recent debates concerning migration, forced displacement, flight and exile. These kinds of debates can be understood as a signum of comprehensive societal disaffection. ‘Belonging’ provides the occasion for an increasing politicization of nationally composed societies. This is one aspect where the contested character of ‘belonging’ comes forward. ‘Belonging’ is championed and thereby operates in an excluding manner. These (both historical and contemporary) observations should cause a thorough examination of the phenomenon of ‘belonging’ and ‘social distinction’. It is to be hoped that recent debates can thereby be confronted with an academic reflection about the issues at hand.