Global South Studies Center Erfurt

Relations, (Dis)Connections, Ruptures: On the Futurability of a Globalized World

The Global South Studies Center Erfurt aims to bundle, facilitate and internationalize research on the Global South at the University of Erfurt. The disciplines involved are Cultural, Social and Religious Studies, History, Theology, as well as Political and Communication Science. The geographical focus is on West Asia, South Asia, Africa and Latin America. In addition to the Near and Middle East, it also includes the (Global) East, i.e. the post-Soviet and postsocialist world, where the Center is also situated. These perspectives make it unique in Gemany.

Global South Studies are a rather recent, vibrant and interdisciplinary research field. Global South is understood here in its relation to the Global North and Global East, as a relational concept. The term first appeared officially in world politics in 1980 with the report of Willy Brandt’s North-South Commission (1977-79), entitled North-South: A Programme for Survival, but "Global South" was used since the 1960s.
The concept of the Global East has recently been introduced into the discussion in order to include the post-Soviet and postsocialist spaces, the former “Second World”, liminally positioned between Global South and Global North. Global South, North and East are not to be understood as geographical descriptions, but rather as deterritorialized concepts used to describe and analyze transregional, transnational and translocal relationships, spaces and movements within the global economic and political order. Thus, there is “South” to be found in the “North” and "East" (and vice-versa). Through related experiences of subaltern positions of marginalization (and often alienation), the concepts Global South and East are also used to both express and analyze powerful social and political Imaginaries that have been able to transcend the contradictions and disjunctions of the societies and politics involved.

Events

“Palm oil bio-diesel and sugarcane bioethanol are green energy and a substitute for mineral vehicle fuel. But what if multinational bioenergy industry and government, under the guise of "food barns" and "energy transition", pursue political and "developmental" projects which appropriate the natural resources of indigeous peoples? The film documents the struggle of the Marind, Yei, Awyu and Muyu people of Southern Papua against the Indonesian government, chronicling stories of separatism and 60 years of Indonesian military operations linked to territorial control.

Pig Feast reveals how networks of politicians, investors, the military, and churches confront social movements and indigenous communities. Directed by Dandhy Laksono and Cypri Dale, it is a record of the contradictions of our time and colonial practices occurring today, without waiting to become history.”

Navigating China: A Tri-Regional Conversation on Power, Policy, and Partnership.

21.04.2026.
Haus Dacheröden: Anger 37, 99084 Erfurt.

Panel:

Thomas Yoshimura, Policy Advisor China, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.
George Yin, Senior Fellow, Mercator Institute for Chia Studies
Michael Laha, Senior Fellow, German Council of Foreign Relations (DGAP)
moderated by Dr des. Madeleine Böhm, Academic Coordinator of the doctoral program De-Globalisation and Global Decoupling (DeGlobE)

When: 29.10.2026 18:00

Where: C03-LG1 HS3

Global South Movie Night Presents:

Watermelon Man (1970)

Melvin Van Peebles’ Watermelon Man is a lost gem of Black Power Cinema. The films asks the question: How would your life change if you could experience it through someone else’s eyes? This is the fate of Jeff Gerber, a white insurance salesman living a comfortable life in a North American Suburb. He is racist, sexist, overconfident and takes his position in society for granted; but this all changes when he suddenly finds himself in the body of an African American man. In an instance his suburban life of ease is transformed into a world of restrictions and prejudice, simply because he is now being perceived as black.
Being primarily a comedy, the movie deals with these themes in a humoristic way, although without sacrificing the punch of its social critique. On the contrary, by using humour the ridiculousness of racialised US-American society is exposed much more forcefully.

Watermelon Man is a product of the Black Power Movement of the 1970s. The film reflects the critiques made by young African Americans of the time, who were dissatisfied with the shortcomings of the civil rights movement. It combats the myth that oppression of African Americans stopped with the implementation of Civil Rights, instead highlighting the structural marginalisation of African Americans through economic and cultural means.

We hope to see you on Thursday to watch and discuss this hilarious and yet profound movie with us.