Gewerkschaftshochschulen als Wissenszentren. Ein Fokus auf afrikanische Kursteilnehmer*innen als (Ko-)Produzent*innen von Wissen während der 1960er-Jahre des Kalten Krieges

Abstract: Trade Union Colleges as Centres of Knowledge. A Focus on African
Course Participants as (Co-)Producers of Knowledge during the 1960s Cold
War. In this article, I argue that circulations were central to processes of
knowledge production, adaptation, and dissemination at and between the
two trade union colleges under investigation. By illuminating concrete
knowledge transfers and circulations through the exchanges of experience,
examination papers, correspondence, and book shipments, I make the case
that knowledge circulation should not be understood as a one-way street of
linear transfer, but rather as a concept characterised by multiple points of
contact and exchange. These nodes of knowledge transfer were often located
within the educational institutions themselves, which sought to become centres
of knowledge in the field of trade union education for Africans. The practical
and technical knowledge of African students was one of the key factors
that enabled these pioneering institutions in Guinea and the German Democratic
Republic to generate knowledge about the African trade union movement
through intercultural interaction.