About the lecture
This presentation investigates the complex evolution of the relationship between the Anti-Apartheid Movements (AAM) and the European Communities (EC) during the 1970s and 1980s by exploiting material from national and AAM archives (in Europe and in South Africa). While historical narratives often focus on bilateral state relations or the United Nations, this presentation shifts the lens toward the emergence of Brussels as a critical site of transnational political contestation. In the 1970s, the EC remained largely hesitant to engage with the South African crisis, viewing it through the prism of Cold War stability and (national) economic (self-)interest. However, as grassroots activism intensified across Europe and the member states of the EC, the AAM pivoted from national ‘street’ protests to institutional activism within the European institutions. This transition marked a significant professionalization of solidarity movements, as activists harnessed the burgeoning legal and political frameworks of the EC, not least with the emergence of European Political Cooperation in the early 1970s, to demand economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation of the Pretoria regime.
About the speaker
Prof. Michael J. Geary is Professor of Modern History and Jean Monnet Chair in the History of European Integration at NTNU. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, his work focuses on twentieth-century Europe, European integration, transatlantic relations, and Irish diplomatic history, and he has held distinguished fellowships across Europe and the United States.
Interested in attending?
Please register, preferably the day before the lecture: https://nettskjema.no/a/eveninglecture