Discussant: Maria Paula Meneses (CES)

Abstract

This seminar will explore how Mozambican labor migration to former East Germany (1979-1990) can serve as a case study to rethink Mozambican labor history. The entangled history of Mozambique and the German Democratic Republic highlights new forms of socialist mobility. Foundational works—Harries, Work, Culture, and Identity; Moodie & Ndatshe Going for Gold; and First et al., Black Gold—have underscored the impact of colonial capitalism. Looking back on fifty years of independence, this paper will consider the impact of global processes of historical change in the post-independence era through the worker’s experience. Key concerns include arcs of mobility and their effects on notions of self, belonging, generation, work, and lifecycle.

Bio

Marcia C. Schenck is a PhD candidate in History at Princeton University. Her dissertation, preliminarily entitled “From Africa to East Germany and back: Uncovering the Life Experiences of Transnational Mozambican and Angolan Contract Workers During and After the Cold War,” focuses on the life histories of labor migrants from Angola and Mozambique to former East Germany. As a Mercator Fellow on International Affairs, she worked on labor migration in Asia and South America. She holds an MSc in African Studies from Oxford University and a BA summa cum laude in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College. Her previous work centers on San land rights and ethnicity in South Africa and Namibia. Her research interests include digital humanities, oral history, memory, migration, development, labor, and identity politics.

Activity within the research group Cities, Culture & Architecture (CCArq)