A Decade of Design: The Global Invention of the Kanga, 1876–1886

This article examines the early development of printed and manufactured cotton kanga textiles, worn popularly throughout East Africa by women as wrappers. Using archival, pictorial and object collections, I suggest that the decade from 1876 to 1886 was crucial for design. The bold colour and graphics of East African women’s cloth printing, Indonesian batik motifs, European-printed handkerchief-style borders and the inclusion of text combined by 1886 to form the now standard composition of kanga cloth.     

The Prosecution of Informers in Eastern Germany, 1945–51

This work is an examination of the practices and experiences of administering transitional justice in post-war eastern Germany after 1945, examining the adjudication of informers as indirect perpetrators of crimes against humanity. Allied occupation law allowed for the prosecution of informers retroactively in the German courts through legislation specifically enacted for the purpose of prosecuting crimes against humanity. The implementation of the law and the prosecution of informers in the Soviet occupation zone under the auspices of the military government administration, and then later in the early years of German Democratic Republic of Germany is examined. This work also addresses the theoretical and practical problems associated with the implementation of the law, and the lessons to be drawn from this historically significant attempt to call individuals to account for their crimes against humanity after they had occurred through the use of retroactive legislation.