IMC 2026: Sessions

Medieval European patterns of conquest, migration and settlement bear striking similarities to early modern and modern forms of colonialism: the facilitation of large scale migration and settlement, establishment of new ruling elites, rapid demographic, linguistic and cultural shifts as well as significant ecological and economic impacts. Nevertheless, postcolonial theories and concepts, developed to navigate the complex power structures and identities resulting from such processes, remain controversial in medieval studies. This round table discussion will address several questions: to what extent can medieval studies benefit from terminology developed in studies on colonial and 'post'-colonial societies? How can - and should - medievalists challenge nationalistic narratives of intra-European colonialism? How do medieval case studies promise to expand and enrich the study of colonialism as a diachronic, global phenomenon?

Participants include Erik Wolf (Institut for Kultur og Samfund, Aarhus Universitet), Bonnie Effros (Department of History, University of British Columbia), Gustavs Strenga (Kultūras un Mākslu Institūts, Latvijas Kultūras akadēmija), Henry Gruber (Department of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Philipp Höhn (Institut für Geschichte, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), Solveig Marie Wang (Independent Scholar))