The GLOBALE begins with a tribunal at which the 20th century will be tried for its transgressions and crimes against humanity, animals, and nature. Indictments will be sought for genocide such as the Holocaust, the exploitation of the Earth, and the extermination of the animal world by humans. With a conference, a panorama-screen installation, and a film program, the tribunal will present a critical review of the 20th century, a “century of extremes” (Eric Hobsbawm, 1994) and declining inhibition.

The three-day event takes its cue from Franz Kafka’s novel »The Trial« (1914/1915) and prominent trials of the 20th century. The historical trials that serve as a model for this tribunal are the dadaist trial against Maurice Barrès (1921), the Nuremberg Trials, and the Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal. As the first international tribunals prosecuting war crimes, the Nuremberg Trials are exemplary of legal proceedings to ascertain individual guilt in crimes against humanity. The Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal, also known as the Russell Tribunal, was initiated by Lord Bertrand Russell in 1966, as a private body for investigating and evaluating American war crimes in Vietnam. It later served as the model for investigating violations of international law; for example, for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal.

Our tribunal also reminds us of the legal importance of Karlsruhe – the seat of both the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Attorney General of Germany. The presentations will deal with the history of violence and genocide, expulsion and persecution in the 20th century. The speakers are distinguished scholars and artists exploring these themes from historical, legal, philosophical, and artistic perspectives, who will present their latest research findings.

Conference languages are English and German.

Speakers: Boris Barth, Roger Berkowitz, Bazon Brock, Mihran Dabag, Lutz Dammbeck, Frank Dikötter, Paul N. Edwards, Raphael Gross, Terike Haapoja, Clive Hamilton, Kerryn Higgs, Ben Kiernan, Claude Klein, Hans-Werner Kroesinger, Norman M. Naimark, Antonio Negri, Jan M. Piskorski, Saskia Sassen, Peter Sloterdijk, Hannibal Travis and Jürgen Zimmerer

Moderation: Joseph Cohen, Peter Weibel and Raphael Zagury-Orly