Social Science Research Council

"'Onwards with God': Utopianism, Colonialism, and Modernism in a Pan-German World"

My dissertation investigates interactions between space and ideology in the didactic practices of German-speaking Protestant sects in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. I will explore the interplay between utopian rhetoric, colonial sentiment, and modern spatial practices, as they flowed between the German-speaking world and West Africa. Drawing on the history of utopian visions from the Renaissance onwards, I will focus on utopian colonialism as it emerged at religious new towns in Germany and was transformed in the context of proto-colonial settlement in the Gold Coast. Additionally, I will analyze the impact of utopian spatial ideologies on the formation of formal colonial policies, paying attention to the introduction of modern architectural and planning ideas in alleged contradistinction to African traditions. I hypothesize that the contemporary built form of the Gold Coast region displays the impact of utopian colonialism in ongoing disjunctions between urban and rural spaces. My research also points to utopian colonialism as a missing link in the history of German architectural modernism. I hope to locate the spatial ideology and building activities of German Pietists, at home and abroad, in this canonical narrative.