Dr. Jennifer Allen

Biography

Jennifer Allen is a historian specializing in modern Germany, with a particular interest in late twentieth-century cultural practices. Her forthcoming book, Sustainable Utopias: Art Politics Hope Germany, published by Harvard University Press, examines Germany's recent efforts to revitalize the concept of utopia following the collapse of Europe's violent utopian social engineering projects at the end of the twentieth century. Contrary to popular belief, she argues that the German interest in radical alternatives to the existing society diminished over time. Allen braids together case studies from the Berlin History Workshop, the German Green Party, and a loose collection of artists in public space, demonstrating how Germans resisted the increasing sense of political disenfranchisement, social alienation, and cultural impotence during the 1980s and 1990s. Instead of succumbing to despair, they pursued radical democratization through everyday cultural projects. Allen’s research also explores grassroots commemorative practices in Germany, which have served as a model for international communities in places such as Moscow, Buenos Aires, and Washington D.C. Her book project, Insurance Total Destruction, analyzes postwar German efforts to archive the necessary materials to rebuild national and international cultures after total catastrophe, focusing on the cultural implications of the Cold War. Allen received her B.A. from the University of Virginia and both her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her work has been funded by various prestigious organizations, and she currently teaches courses on modern German history and European history at Yale University.

Research Interests