Navigating Socialist Encounters

This edited volume examines entanglements and disentanglements between Africa and East Germany during and after the Cold War from a global history perspective. Extending the view beyond political elites, it asks for the negotiated and plural character of socialism in these encounters and sheds light on migration, media, development, and solidarity through personal and institutional agency. With its distinctive focus on moorings and unmoorings, the volume shows how the encounters, albeit often brief, significantly influenced both African and East German histories.

Eric Burton, Univ. Innsbruck; Anne Dietrich, Univ. Leipzig; Immanuel R. Harisch, Univ. Vienna; Marcia C. Schenck, Univ. Potsdam.

"This edited volume [comprised of fourteen chapters and an introduction] contributes significantly to our understanding of the still understudied links between East Germany and the Global South. Each author in the volume unearths a treasure trove of sources that draw, among others, on East German and African archives, oral and micro-histories as well as literary and documentary texts and artifacts. All individual essays are well-written, critically informed, and highly innovative." – Anna Horakova (Harvard University) in German Studies Review (2022) 45/2, 384–386

"This variety of formats sets this edited volume apart from other books on similar topics. Another reason to commend this volume is the range of sources used by its contributors. […] it should be of great interest not only to students of the GDR and African history but also to all those dealing with postsocialism and the global history of the Cold War." – Yulia Gradskova (Södertörn University) in Ab Imperio (2022) 1, 293–297

More reviews:

Gradskova, Yulia. Review of Navigating Socialist Encounters: Moorings and (Dis) Entanglements between Africa and East Germany during the Cold War　ed. by Eric Burton et al. Ab Imperio 2022, no. 1 (2022): 293–297. doi:10.1353/imp.2022.0024.

Horakova, Anna. Review of Navigating Socialist Encounters: Moorings and (Dis)Entanglements Between Africa and East Germany During the Cold War　ed. by Eric Burton et al. German Studies Review 45, no. 2 (2022): 384–386. doi:10.1353/gsr.2022.0035.

Kößler, Reinhart. Review of Navigating Socialist Encounters: Moorings and (Dis) Entanglements between Africa and East Germany during the Cold War　ed. by Eric Burton et al. PERIPHERIE – Politik • Ökonomie • Kultur (1-2022), no. 165+166, https://doi.org/10.3224/peripherie.v42i1.15.

Pereira, Matheus Serva. Encontros Socialistas e Projetos Alternativos de Globalização durante a Guerra Fria. Afro-Ásia, no. 66 (2023): 704–712. https://www.resenhacritica.com.br/periodicos/afro-asia-ufba/.

Van der Heyden, Ulrich. Nochmals: DDR und Afrika. Indaba 114/22: 24–25.

Banks, Elizabeth. "Review: Burton, Erich/ Dietrich, Anne/ Harisch, Immanuel R./ Schenck, Marcia C. (2021, Eds.): Navigating Socialist Encounters: Mooring and (Dis)Entanglements Between Africa and East Germany During the Cold War." Stichproben. Vienna Journal of African Studies 22, no. 42 (2022): 87–89. https://doi.org/10.25365/PHAIDRA.362_07.

Immanuel R. Harisch, Navigating Socialist Encounters: Moorings and (Dis)Entanglements between Africa and East Germany during the Cold War, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 25.11.2021. https://trafo.hypotheses.org/31549.