Rumours: Their Overlooked Role in the Build-Up to Religious Resistance, State Repression and Maoist Campaigns in late Imperial and Twentieth-Century China

Enemy Encounters in East Asia will have a similar geographic scope to the Aftermath webinar series, covering East Asia, but with a broader temporal reach beyond the Imjin War and its aftermath. It will feature speakers from across different academic disciplines working on East Asia, who deal with antagonisms and processes of enemization in their research. Contributing speakers will discuss enmities in East Asia and associated ambivalences as they have historically manifested in the concrete conflicts they are studying. Case studies will include both states and non-state actors like religious and terrorist movements, as well as antagonisms within societies, such as those revolving around gender differences and class conflicts. We will look at how enmity and processes of enemization took shape, evolved over time and influenced identities, perceptions of self and others, as well as state policies. Please find attached the program for the upcoming term at Heidelberg University, covering October 2024 until February 2025. Information about the first session follows below: