Islamic Constitutionalism in the Seventh Century: The Conditional Obedience Principle – Lecture by Ahmed El Shamsy (NIAS/University of Chicago)
16 January 2026, Amsterdam
Abstract
Western academic study of Islamic political theory has historically tended to place it in the category of “Oriental despotism.” This claim is part and parcel of the ideology of Western exceptionalism and served as a justification for European colonial and postcolonial domination of Muslim-majority countries. A study of Islamic political theory in the first two centuries of Islam (seventh and eighth centuries CE) demonstrates the existence of a robust conceptual safeguard against despotic and absolutist government, accompanied by the emergence of institutions to limit the power of the executive.
This event is jointly organised by the research group Global Political Thought of the University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Medieval Seminar.
Free Speech in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam – Lecture by Kevin Pham (UvA)
Tuesday 17 February, Amsterdam
Abstract
In 1954, the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) defeated the French military at Dien Bien Phu, thereby ending French colonialism in Vietnam (1858-1954). But soon after achieving national liberation, the same government became a new source of oppression in the newly independent state, or so argued a group of about fifty intellectuals proclaiming loyalty to the DRV. This talk presents the ideas of these intellectuals, participants in what has become known as the Nhan Van – Giai Phammovement (1956-1960). They criticized their government for becoming dogmatic, authoritarian, and harming the interests of the people they claimed to serve. Interestingly, they argued that the key to long lasting freedom in Vietnam is freedom of speech. But rather than defend freedom of speech in terms of individual entitlement as we tend to do in the West, they defend it as a collective—rather than individual—right, arguing that it can help the government redress mistakes, identify what is good and bad for the people, and create a socialism that celebrates human diversity. Their theories of free speech draw on Confucian traditions of remonstrance and Marxism, thus offering a different, more global perspective on free speech.
This event is jointly organized by the Amsterdam Global Political Thought Seminar and Amsterdam Medieval Seminar
Shifting sovereignties — Manifestations of sovereignty from a global historical perspective – Lecture by Moritz Mihatsch (Wenzhou-Kean University)
19 February 2026, Utrecht
Abstract:
Sovereignty is once again at the forefront of international debate, especially thanks to the re-election of Donald Trump. However, as a concept it is badly understood and often invoked as an empty signifier. Traditional conceptions of sovereignty are both ahistorical and impractical. Starting with historical examples from around the globe, the talk proposes an approach to sovereignty which starts from these practical manifestations and incorporates change.
This lecture is part of the Utrecht Lectures in Political History series
The Origins of Enlightenment Radical Thought. A New Interpretation – Damien Tricoire (Trier University, Germany)
7 April 2026, Amsterdam
Abstract
In traditional interpretations, the Enlightenment radically broke with older worldviews and introduced secularization. According to this view, the emergence of discourses on natural human rights was a consequence of the secularization of natural law initiated by seventeenth-century theorists. Focusing on the emergence of abolitionist and radical political thought in the 1760s-70s in France, this talk tells a different story. First, it traces the emergence of natural rights to medieval canon law and scholasticism. Second, it shows how these ideas became increasingly politicized in the late Middle Ages and in the Spanish discussion about colonialism. Third, it explores how seventeenth-century Catholic missionaries active in the south Atlantic invented abolitionism by drawing on the natural rights discourse of canon law and scholasticism. Fourth, it demonstrates that the Enlightenment appropriation of these ideas was deeply embedded in a religious worldview.
This event is organised by the research group Global Political Thought of the University of Amsterdam.
The Making of a Global Icon: Nefertiti’s 20th-Century Career – Sebastian Conrad (FU Berlin)
4 juni, Amsterdam, Spui 25
Abstract
Nefertiti, the queen of the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt, was the great royal wife of pharaoh Akhenaten. The discovery of her stucco coated limestone bust in 1912 marked the beginning of a global career as an iconic image, used for a wide variety of purposes. The silhouette of this powerful Ancient Egyptian queen was admired around the world, from National Socialists, nationalists in Egypt and Bengal, to prominent figures such as Elijah Muhammad and Beyoncé. Since Egypt unsuccessfully demanded its restitution, it is still today a must-see museum piece of the New Museum in Berlin. Against a global backdrop, Conrad showcases the often-controversial issues and debates in which the bust of Nefertiti has been embroiled. He argues that its trajectory offers insights into the changing shape of globalization from the era of imperialism to the present day.
DIA, together with the Research Group Global Political Thought, UvA
Intellectual history and the history of the body – Round table
5 juni, Amsterdam
Abstract
In the search for new approaches to history, one soon encounters both a global, intellectual, as well as a bodily turn. In this workshop, we will talk about ways to combine these fields of study, about possible crossovers, and about what could be learned from successive approaches. Are there any pitfalls, or could one benefit from a global, intellectual history of the body, or of a corporeal intellectual global history? Many questions will be answered in an open workshop with esteemed experts in the fields.
Sebastian Conrad (FU Berlin), Introduction
Willemijn Ruberg (UU), History of the body from a local, European and Global Perspective
Serena Ferente (UvA), ‘The Body and Political Thought’ in Europa and East Asia (ca. 1150–1650)
Josephine Hoegaerts (UvA), Modern Voices from a local as well as global Perspective
Nuri Kurnaz (UvA), ‘Ideas on European Integration in the Era of Colonialism, 1920s-1930s’.
DIA, together with the research group Global Political Thought, UvA