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Jeremy Prestholdt and the Culture of Political Engagement
At the Institute for European Global Studies Jeremy Prestholdt advances his research project "Politics of the Soil". He is one of several Visiting Fellows researching at the Institute for European Global Studies in this year.
In "Politics of the Soil: Kenya, Decolonization, and Autochthony Discourse" Jeremy Prestholdt explores the culture of political engagement in Kenya since the late colonial era and addresses the linking of politics and identity to physical space. His project addresses the limitations and possibilities that African political thinkers faced at the end of the colonial era. He is particularly interested in how coastal Kenyans articulated communal relationships to territory through the language of autochthony: the notion that certain groups deserve primary rights based on ‘original’ habitation.
Jeremy Prestholdt is Associate Professor of African and Global History at the University of California, San Diego, USA. He specializes in African, Indian Ocean, and global history with a thematic focus on consumer culture and politics. He holds a doctoral degree in African History from the Department of History at Northwestern University, Chicago, USA. Among other awards, he has received a Rockefeller Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.
Every year, the Institute for European Global Studies invites selected scholars to join as Visiting Fellows and to work on specific projects related to the overall research approach of the institute. Visiting Fellows provide impulses to their field of expertise and share their ideas about research in and on a Global Europe with colleagues.
In the upcoming weeks and months, we publish a news series introducing all new Visiting Fellows. Shortly before their stay at the Institute of European Global Studies, a short interview will be available on this website. Learn more about the new Visiting Fellows when they present their research project during a Working Lunch.