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Voices & Positions Controversial Kinship

Perspectives and Positions. Interview with Leslie James about colonial fascism

9 October 2026 6 Min.

Debates about the similarities and differences between colonial violence and Nazi rule have carried on since the 1930s and continue to the present day. Rooted in the fields of history, the social sciences, and cultural studies, these debates shape political discourse, media coverage, art, and the cultures of remembrance. The discussion focuses on questions of continuity, discontinuity, and comparability.

The interviews with experts as part of the exhibition “Controversial Kinship. Colonial and National Socialist Violence” present a range of perspectives and positions in the debate. Historian Leslie James, Queen Mary University of London, talks about colonial fascism in a video interview:

“The invasion of Italy [in Ethiopia] in October 1935 then became the first proof, itself, that fascism and colonialism really belonged together. And the comparisons [between fascism and colonialism] that they are making are not just in relation to Italian fascism but also to Nazi Germany, specifically. So, where those comparisons are most important to Nazism [and colonialism] are around the use of racial segregation in both places, book bans, lack of freedom of speech, rumors of sterilization schemes, and the use of militias and police violence to quell workers’ strikes.”

[Translate to English:] Portrait Leslie James
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Conversation Partner

Portrait Stephan Malinowski
Stephan Malinowski

Dr. Stephan Malinowski is the curator of the exhibition “Controversial Kinship. Colonial and National Socialist Violence” at the Deutsches Historisches Museum.

Leslie James

Leslie James is a historian at the Queen Mary University of London.

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Voices & Positions

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