Archive of Resistance

How do marginalised communities preserve their history when they rarely have a place in official archives? Meryem Choukri traces how feminist of colour activists in Germany build alternative archives through solidarity, food, art, music, and oral history to record and transmit knowledge across generations. Drawing on ethnographic interviews with the activists, her study identifies three central figures – Community, »Erbe«, and Treasure – that structure how marginalised groups remember, pass on, and safeguard their histories. Situated at the intersection of memory studies, archival theory, and Black and women of colour feminisms, the volume offers new tools for understanding resistance, belonging, and intergenerational knowledge transmission.

Meryem Choukri (PhD), born in 1991, works as curator of diversity at the Altonaer Museum in Hamburg. She completed her PhD jointly at the University of Warwick and at Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen and is a member of the bildungs-Lab. Her work bridges memory work, academic research, and political education, focusing on racism, feminism, intersectionality, memory cultures, and colonialism. In 2024, she researched Hamburg merchant Caspar Vogt's colonial trade activities and co-curated the exhibition »Parkomania. Untold Stories from Jenischpark« at Jenisch Haus. Meryem is also an independent educator, speaker, and moderator, as well as a co-founder of Bündnis Kompliz*innen.