VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
Colour-Coded Conflict: A Global History of Racism and Anti-Racism (c. 1500-2000)
Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:42:38
Abstract
The lectures analyses the trajectories of racism and anti-racism from the late 15th to the early 20th century. In an effort to go beyond the usual focus on anti-semitism, various forms of racist thought and practices linked to European and extra-European imperialism are scrutinised. Particular emphasis lies on scientific racism in the 19th/20th centuries and the counter-discourses it triggered.
Objective
The students learn to historicise 21st century phenomena related to the legacy of racial thought, such as the "Black Lives Matter" movement or the current controversies in Europe, Australia and North America revolving around non-western migrants and refugees. Importantly, students of the sciences are sensitized for the role their disciplines played in creating structural inequalities.
Content
The lecture provides an overview of modern forms of racism as they emerged since the late 15th century. It reconstructs the close entanglement of racism with European expansion, but it also looks at racist practices and world views beyond the West. Importantly, it demonstrates that racist rhetoric went never uncontested by also discussing in-depth anti-racist critique and critics from the anti-racist interventions of Bartholomeo de las Casas in early modern Spain to the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s or the South African anti-Apartheid struggle during the final decades of the 20th century.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- DS , MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture | Colour-Coded Conflict: A Global History of Racism and Anti-Racism (c. 1500-2000) |
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
-
Science in Perspective (In “Science in Perspective”-courses students learn to reflect on ETH’s STEM subjects from the perspective of humanities, political and social sciences. Only the courses listed below will be recognized as "Science in Perspective" courses.)
-
Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (SiP courses are recommended for bachelor students after their first-year examination and for all master- or doctoral students. All SiP courses are listed in Type A. Courses listed under Type B are only recommendations for enrollment for specific departments.)
-
-
-