Pour yourself a cup and join us for an evening of open, honest conversation about some of history's darkest forces: imperialism, power, and genocide.
Empires have risen and fallen for thousands of years, from Rome to the colonial empires of Europe to the more subtle forms of influence some argue exist today. But what actually is imperialism? Is it only about conquering territory, or can it also work through trade, debt, culture and technology? And beneath it lies an older question: what is power, where does it come from, and when (if ever) is it legitimate?
This evening we also want to look at the point where power turns into mass destruction. Genocide is often described as madness or pure hatred, yet history shows it is frequently tied to very concrete interests: land, resources, labor and money. The Herero and Nama genocide in German South West Africa cleared land for settlers. In King Leopold's Congo, millions died while rubber profits flowed to Europe. In Nazi Germany, the property of murdered Jews was seized, sold and redistributed.
And this is not only history. In Gaza, a genocide is unfolding while the United States and Germany remain among Israel's main arms suppliers. What do states and industries gain from it: arms sales, weapons marketed as "battle-tested," land, strategic influence? In eastern Congo, Rwanda-backed armed groups control mines where tens of thousands of miners dig for the coltan and cobalt inside our own phones. In Sudan, a UN investigation found that the Rapid Support Forces committed genocide in el-Fasher, while gold and foreign backing keep the war going. Who gains when a people is destroyed? And what does that tell us about the systems that make such crimes possible, and our own place within them?
Finally, we want to ask the human question. Why should we care when a genocide happens on the other side of the planet? Distance can make suffering feel abstract, yet we are rarely as far away as we think. Our taxes may fund the weapons, our phones may contain the minerals, our governments cast the votes at the UN, and people fleeing violence arrive in our cities. When human rights are allowed to collapse anywhere, the laws and norms that protect all of us grow weaker too. So what can ordinary people actually do? From demonstrations and petitions to boycotts, writing to elected representatives, supporting humanitarian organizations and simply refusing to look away, we'll explore what peaceful resistance looks like and whether it can make a difference.
This isn't a lecture and no prior reading is required. Bring your curiosity, your experiences and your disagreements.
Some questions we might explore:
- Is imperialism a thing of the past, or has it simply changed shape?
- Is power something people hold, or something that flows through institutions, ideas and everyday habits?
- How can genocide become profitable, and for whom: political elites, corporations, arms dealers, ordinary neighbors who take over homes and businesses?
- Is genocide driven mainly by ideology, by greed, or by the way the two feed each other?
- What role do corruption and the absence of accountability play in allowing mass violence to happen?
- Raphael Lemkin, who coined the word "genocide," saw it as closely connected to colonialism. Was he right?
- Why do states and societies so often struggle to name genocides, past and present, and what interests shape that reluctance?
- Who bears responsibility: those who order, those who carry out, those who profit, or those who look away?
- Do we have moral obligations to strangers far away, and do they grow when our own country is involved?
- How do human rights violations elsewhere affect our own lives, safety and freedoms?
- What peaceful forms of protest exist, and which ones actually work?
- Where is the line between staying informed and becoming numb or overwhelmed?
How it works:
We start with a short introduction, then move into small-group or whole-group discussion. Everyone gets space to speak, and listening is just as valued as talking. Tea (and maybe biscuits) provided.
📅 Date: Thursday, October 22
🕕 Time: 6:00 – 7:30 pm
📍 Location: Café CU
All backgrounds and viewpoints are welcome. Come as you are, leave with new questions.
⚠️ Trigger warning: This event includes discussion of genocide, colonial violence and mass atrocities. Some participants may have personal or family connections to these histories. We ask everyone to engage with care and respect, even in disagreement. Please look after yourself: you're welcome to step out or take a break at any time.
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📚 Want to dig deeper? (all optional)
🎥 Videos & documentaries (search the titles on YouTube)
- Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35 (John Green, ~14 min): a quick, accessible overview of 19th-century European imperialism
- How Germany Wiped Out 80% of a Black Tribe and Got Away With It (Bisi channel, ~30 min): the Herero and Nama genocide, up to Germany's 2021 recognition
- Namibia: Genocide and the Second Reich (BBC, David Olusoga, 2004)
- King Leopold's Ghost (2006, dir. Pippa Scott, narrated by Don Cheadle): on the Congo Free State and its legacy
📖 Books
- Adam Hochschild – King Leopold's Ghost
- David Olusoga & Casper Erichsen – The Kaiser's Holocaust
- Götz Aly – Hitler's Beneficiaries
- Antony Loewenstein – The Palestine Laboratory
- Hannah Arendt – The Origins of Totalitarianism
- Aimé Césaire – Discourse on Colonialism
- Frantz Fanon – The Wretched of the Earth
- Edward Said – Culture and Imperialism
- Zygmunt Bauman – Modernity and the Holocaust
- Walter Rodney – How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
- A. Dirk Moses (ed.) – Empire, Colony, Genocide
- Peter Singer – The Life You Can Save: on our obligations to distant strangers
- Gene Sharp – From Dictatorship to Democracy: a classic short guide to nonviolent action
🌐 Online articles
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – "Colonialism": https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/
- bpb – Völkermord an Herero und Nama: Abkommen zwischen Deutschland und Namibia (German): https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/hintergrund-aktuell/335257/voelkermord-an-herero-und-nama-abkommen-zwischen-deutschland-und-namibia/
- bpb – Januar 1904: Herero-Aufstand in Deutsch-Südwestafrika (German): https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/hintergrund-aktuell/176142/januar-1904-herero-aufstand-in-deutsch-suedwestafrika/
- "A Usable Past: Raphael Lemkin on the Intersection of Colonialism, Religion, and Genocide" (LSE, 2025): https://websterreview.lse.ac.uk/articles/102
- Michael Bryant – "North American Settler Genocide in the Thought of Raphaël Lemkin" (open access): https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.14.1.1632
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Sharpen your minds and see you there!
Despoina
