080113 VO-L Racism in Europe since the Entlightenment (2009S)

The seminar provides an overview of different varieties and theories of racism, their respective connection to colonialism, and their generic relationship to gender models since the Enlightenment. In the course of the rise of new natural science disciplines, in the 18th century anthropology and physiognomy invented sterotypes of beauty and ugliness. Skin color and gender became the pivotal parameters for the resulting polarization and classification of humans. The 19th century witnessed a new peak in the creation of models of masculinity, femininity, and race. Racist and female stereotypes formed the antithesis of the white (Christian) man, who was seen as the embodiment of reason and autonomy. In this seminar, the development of antisemitism, race anthropology, and racial hygiene in connection with Darwinism, will be presented along with their theoretical concepts and political postulates, and the development of race and gender politics predating the Nazi period will be examined.