Author Archives: Martin Rempe

About Martin Rempe

Martin Rempe is a historian of modern European and global history at the University of Konstanz and currently a fellow at the DFG Heisenberg Program. He is author of the book Entwicklung im Konflikt: Die EWG und der Senegal, 1957–1975 (Böhlau Verlag, 2012), which explores the mechanisms and repercussions of European development aid in Senegal in the age of decolonization. His recent second book Kunst, Spiel, Arbeit: Musikerleben in Deutschland, 1850 bis 1960 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020) delves into the everyday lives of rank-and-file musicians in Germany and traces their struggle for social and economic advancement.

Respect!: Edward Wilmot Blyden and the Cosmopolitan Challenge

Abstract: Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832–1913) is regarded as a pioneer of Pan-African ideas and Afrocentrism. Blyden’s concept of the “African personality” supplied Africans with a history, an identity, and original skills, supposed to counterbalance Western ideas of superiority. Nor did he shy away from the propagation of racial segregation. Many accounts even denounce him as a Black racist. Against this backdrop, this article re-evaluates Blyden’s ideas about education, religious encounter, and humanity. I argue that his main drive was a struggle for respect: he campaigned Continue reading → Continue reading →