Entangled Differentiations. European-African Constructions of the Category ‘Pygmy’ (F02*)

• Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology ; African, American and Oceania Studies
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 442261292

The project examines a human category that is present in Central Africa either under local ethnicizing terms such as ‘Twa’ or ‘Aka’ or pejoratively as ‘Pygmy’. The project investigates processes of (de-)institutionalisation of the controversial human category in science, politics and everyday social and language-related practices in the Congo. The focus here lies on the individual bio-graphical softening of categorical affiliation and on tendencies towards a de-differentiation, i.e. the overriding of distinctions such as ‘Pygmy/Bantu’. Furthermore, the TP explores the interweaving of European and African categorisations of the human category and the entanglement of external and self-perception. It represents a case of asymmetrical differentiation with regard to the dimensions of ‘race’, ethnicity and ‘caste’.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1482: Studies in Human Differentiation
• Applicant Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Matthias Krings; Professor Dr. Nico Nassenstein