Contribution short abstract:

Namibia still struggles with racial division and inequality, partly due to German colonialism and genocide. Now that both the German and Namibian governments are trying to right past wrongs, white German Namibians experience both complicity in inequality and cynicism regarding government actions.

Contribution long abstract:

As a country, Namibia continues to struggle with racial division and inequality, resulting from a history of systemic racism under South African-imposed Apartheid and the violence of earlier German colonialism. Currently, efforts are being made towards colonial reconciliation together with the German government: however, these have been heavily critiqued, not least by the marginalized Herero and Nama groups they claim to represent. So far, studies of reparations movements tend to focus on those who have historically been displaced and dispossessed, less has been said populations who have historically held power and who risk losing because of reparative justice. Therefore, my ongoing fieldwork research for my anthropology master's thesis focuses on white German Namibians, who have historically benefitted from colonialism and Apartheid, and who still own large amounts of land in contemporary Namibia despite being a minority group; which can be perceived as complicity with racial inequality. Simultaneously, white German Namibians have a cynical perception of and distrust towards the Namibian, as well as German, governments' efforts to balance the scales, limiting their political discussions to their own circles because of this. Given that German colonial forces committed the Herero Nama genocide over 100 years ago, questions of who is responsible for the current continued inequality in Namibia, who should pay the price of righting past wrongs, and who is construed as a "perpetrator" or a "victim" are important. I will investigate how these feelings of cynicism, complicity, and disillusionment surrounding reparations combine and interact within the white German Namibian community.