Daniel Koßmann

PhD student
Institute for Asian and African Studies
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

E-mail: daniel.kossmann@hu-berlin.de

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Unter den Linden
10099 Berlin

De:link//Re:link Project:

New Dynamics in the Cultural Field of Dar es Salaam: A Comparative Case Study of the Confucius Institute and the Goethe Institute in Tanzania.

Daniel Kossmann

Research Interests

  • // Sino-African relations
  • // Cultural diplomacy & international cultural relations
  • // Confucius Institutes
  • // East Africa
  • // Swahili Studies
  • // Arts-based research

Project Description

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been mostly understood as a geopolitical and geoeconomic initiative. It is overlooked that China also accumulates geocultural power through it. Cultural cooperation has played a major role in Sino-African relations since the first action plans of the Forum on China-Africa-Cooperation (FOCAC) were adopted in 2000. I would like to elaborate through my research the role of the Confucius Institutes as a cultural arm of the BRI. To this end, I will focus on the role of Confucius Institutes in Dar es Salaam. I will examine how the balance of power in the cultural field of the East African metropolis has been renegotiated since the establishment of the Confucius Institutes.

My research aims to answer the following questions: 1) How have various stakeholders and actors in the cultural playing field in Dar es Salaam reacted to the emergence of the Confucius Institute and have they developed stratageiss in response? 2) How has the Confucius Institute, as a cultural and academic part of the Belt and Road Initiative, affected the cultural sector in Dar es Salaam? 3) How do cultural stakeholders and actors compare and contrast the Confucius Institute with other transnational cultural institutes?

Vita

I’m an area studies scholar with a focus on East Africa and a passion for the creative and artistic. In my work I bring together regional expertise and artistic passion. I hold a B.A. in Areas Studies Asia/Africa and a M.A. in African Studies from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. I spend a couple of years living, working and studying in East Africa, mostly in Nairobi (Kenya), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Kigali (Rwanda). As a scholar, I am not only interested in the production of knowledge, but also in how it can best be shared and disseminated. In addition to my dissertation, I have therefore been actively involved in science communication.

Selected Publications