David Drengk is an interdisciplinary Africanist and historian of technology who specialises in the reciprocal relationship between humans, the natural environment and technology. His regional and epochal focus is on western (Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana) and southern Africa (Malawi and South Africa) in the 19th and 20th century.
His work is located at the interface of environmental history, African history, (global) history of technology and anthropology and is characterised by various methods such as ‘classical’ archival work and oral history research in particular. In the past, he has worked in various African regions and, after completing his dissertation, worked as a lecturer at the Technical University Dresden, the Humboldt University of Berlin and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Academic career

• Since 10/2024: Research Associate/PostDoc in the ERC-research project „The Making of Monoculture: A Global History“ (MaMoGH), Chair for environmental history and the history of technology, Ruhr University Bochum.
• 2024: Guest lecturer at the chair for the history of technology Department of History, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
• 2022-2024: Research Associate/PostDoc at the chair of history of technology and economy, Institute of History, Technische Universität Dresden.
• 2023: Guest Lecturer at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Chair of African History, Humboldt University of Berlin.
• 2017-2023: PhD (West African) History of Technology, Technische Universität Darmstadt.
• 2016: Research Associate COMIFAC Summer School in Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt/Centre for interdisciplinary African Studis (ZIAF)/Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Frankfurt, Germany.
• 2014-2015: M.A. Oral History research project in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
• 2013-2015: M.A. African Studies Research, African Studies Centre Leiden (ASC)/Leiden University, the Netherlands.
• 2012-2013: B.A. research project in Chemboma and Likotima, Malawi.
• 2011 - 2012: B.A. ERASMUS-exchange programme African Languages and Cultures, African History, Leiden University, the Netherlands (B.A. studies).
• 2010 - 2013: B.A. Area Studies Asia/Africa, Agricultural Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin.

Postdoc-Projects

‘MONOCULTURAL DIVERSITY IN MALAWI IN THE LONG 20TH CENTURY: A COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF TABAC, TEA AND SUGAR TUBE’ (tentative working title)
The research project on ‘Monoculture Diversity’ focusses on the coexistence of the three important monocultures of tobacco, tea and sugar cane in Malawi and sheds light on their internal dynamics and their independent existence in the long 20th century. The project focuses particularly on the question which actors mastered the establishment, continued existence and continuous expansion of these monocultures, when and how. After all, the historical actors responsible were repeatedly confronted with challenges that should not be underestimated, such as environmental disasters or social, political and economic tensions. However, despite such sometimes-adverse circumstances and widespread global criticism of monocultures, the systematic cultivation of these three plants has been maintained to this day.
With the help of a methodical pluralism, both oral and written sources will be analysed to look behind the scenes of these monocultures. How did the various historical actors manage to keep these three monocultures alive or even expand them despite constant challenges and very diverse climatic conditions?

“A SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF BICYCLES AND CYCLING IN SOUTHEASTERN MALAWI IN THE LONG 20TH CENTURY” (abgeschlossen)
In a current research project, I am writing a history of bicycles and cycling in southeastern Malawi in the long 20th century. It traces the history of the bicycle in the urban and semi-urban town of Zomba in south-eastern Malawi from the late 19th century to the present day. 
In the long 20th century, the perception of the bicycle in and around Zomba changed. From being used by colonial officials and elites, cycling evolved to include returning migrant labourers, soldiers and other sections of Malawian society who used bicycles to commute to work or transport goods. This research sheds light on how such different actors-from British colonial officials to local bicycle mechanics-shaped the history of Zomba as a cycling city and made the bicycle an indispensable part of the cityscape. 
The project pursues different perspectives, from cultural-historical narratives that de-centre the bicycle from one-sided narratives of technology transfer, to environmental histories in which the bicycle played a key role in the regional fishing sector and deforestation. It examines the everyday lives of people in different time periods, from the early colonial period through the Second World War to the post-independence period after 1960 when the bicycle became an everyday means of transport. This examination focuses on technological continuities and coexistences, especially against the backdrop of a constantly changing transport environment in Malawi and puts historical actors such as bikesmiths, mechanics and everyday cyclists, who had previously often been neglected, at centre stage.

Publications

Book
Drengk, David. People, Materiality, and Nature in Everyday Life: The Technological Landscape of the Rainforest in Southern Côte d’Ivoire, 1890-1930, book publication in the Afrika-Studiecentrum Series, Leiden/Boston: Brill Academic Publishers (forthcoming 2025).

Journal articles
Drengk, David. „The Historiography of Guns Revisited: Of a Cultural Turn and Local African Meanings”. Journal of African Military History (forthcoming 2025).

Drengk, David und Yusuf Madugu. „The Technological Landscape of Human and Animal Transportation: Cases from Northern Nigeria and Southern Côte d’Ivoire.“ Journal of Transport History 45, No. 2 (2024): 18-40, https://doi.org/10.1177/00225266231211143

Drengk, David. „Instandhaltung und Reparatur als Rückgrat kolonialer Eisenbahnen: Zentrale und mobile Werkstätten und Krankenstationen im ivorischen Wald.“ Technikgeschichte 89, No. 2 (2022): 149-180. https://doi.org/10.5771/0040-117X-2022-2-149

Osorio Tarazona, Alejandra, David Drengk, and Animesh Chatterjee. „Rethinking Global History of Technology from Alternative Archives.” Technikgeschichte 88, No. 2 (2021): 202-206. https://doi.org/10.5771/0040-117X-2021-2-202

Drengk, David. „Mysterious Wild Coast”. Waves & Woods 2, No. 3 (2018): 118–123.

Drengk, David and Stefan Dohm. „Lima- Peru: Anpassung der städtischen Wasserwirtschaft an den Klimawandel.” Beratende Ingenieure – Fachmagazin für Planen und Bauen 11/12 (2017): 34–37.

Drengk, David and Jürgen Charzinski. „Unterstützung beim Aufbau der maritimen Industrie: Timor-Leste – maritimer Sektor.” Beratende Ingenieure – Fachmagazin für Planen und Bauen 11/12 (2015): 34–37.

Book chapters
Drengk, David. „A Socio-Environmental History of Everyday Cycling in Zomba in the long 20th Century: Changing Societal Perceptions and (Everyday) Practices“, in: Oldenziel, Ruth und Njogu Morgan (eds.), Cycling Cities: The African Experience, Eindhoven (forthcoming in spring 2025).

Drengk, David. „Die mehrdimensionale Kritikalität von Palmen im kolonialen Westafrika der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts“, in: Drengk, David und Gisela Hürlimann (eds.), Rohstoffe - kritisch. Unverzichtbarkeit, Ungleichheit und Konflikte in Produktion, Handel und Konsum (Publikation in der Reihe Infrastrukturen – Umwelt – Ressourcen, Nomos Verlag (forthcoming in spring 2025).

Drengk, David. „Reparaturwerkstätten als kritische Infrastruktur: Eisenbahnalltag entlang ivorischer Gleise im Regenwald“, in: Weber, Heike, Astrid Venn, Jörg Rüsewald, Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin, (eds.), Reparieren, Warten, Improvisieren: Technikgeschichte des Unfertigen, Berlin: Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum, 2023, 119-126.

Drengk, David. „Beyond South Africa’s draconian racial segregation: Transkeian surfing narratives, 1966 – 1994”, in: Cleveland, Todd, Tarminder Kaur, Gerard Akindes (eds.), Sports in Africa, Past and Present (Athen: Ohio University Press, 2020), 111-124.

Edited Volume
Drengk, David and Gisela Hürlimann (eds.). Rohstoffe - kritisch. Unverzichtbarkeit, Ungleichheit und Konflikte in Produktion, Handel und Konsum (Publikation in der Reihe „Infrastrukturen – Umwelt – Ressourcen. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Neuzeit“, Nomos Verlag (forthcoming in spring 2025).

Special Issue
Drengk, David (ed.). „New Research on Guns in Sub-Saharan Africa”. Special Issue on the new cultural historiography of firearms in Africa, Journal of African Military History (forthcoming 2025).

Theses

“People, Materiality, and Nature in Everyday Life: The Technological Landscape of the Rainforest in Côte d’Ivoire, 1890-1930”, PhD, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 2023.

„Pushing Social Boundaries: Social history of Surfing and People between 1960 and 1990 at South Africa’s Wild Coast”, M.A. thesis, Leiden University/African Studies Centre Leiden, 2015.

„Social Order and Hierarchy in Che Mboma and Likotima village: Of the Transformation from Deprived Children to Knowledgeable Leading Lights – The Social Positioning of Jacaranda Children in Their Respective Communities”, B.A. thesis, Humboldt University Berlin, 2013.

Organisation of academic events

09/2024 Panel Co-Organisation (with Dr. Martin Meiske): „Maintenance and Repair Studies: Exploring Change and Persistence in the History of Technology”, 11. Tensions of Europe Conference in Frankfurt/Oder, 19.-21. September 2024.

09/2024 Panel Co-Organisation (with Dr. Robert Heinze and Gladys Nyachieo): „Transport infrastructures in African history: Precarity and stability“, Conference der Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland (VAD) „Reconfigurations in Africa – and in African Studies“, 30/9 – 2/10/2024, Bayreuth.

01/2024 Peer-to-Peer Online-Workshop: „Rohstoffe - kritisch. Unverzichtbarkeit, Ungleichheit und Konflikte in Produktion, Handel und Konsum“ (26/01/2024).

11/2021 Co-Organisation double panel: "Everyday Mobilities in Africa (II)” at the 2021 T2M Annual Conference of the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic & Mobility in Lisbon.

09-11/2021 Co-Organisation Global Matters 2.0 Seminar Serie: “Global Matters: Intersections between Histories of Science, Technology, and Environment”, GLOBAL-HOT/Max-Planck Institute Berlin.

01-03/2021 Co-Organisation “Global Matters: Intersections between Histories of Science, Technology, and Environment”: Seminar-Serie in collaboration with the Department III "Artifacts, Action, Knowledge" des Max-Planck-Instituts in Berlin (MPIWG) and the research project “A Global History of Technology (GLOBAL-HoT)” at the Technischen Universität Darmstadt.

10/2019 Panelorganisation: „Histories of African technological landscapes: The case of firearms”, Annual Conference „Exploring the Interface between Technology Art, and Design“ der Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), Milano, Italy.

07/2019 Workshop organisation: „Writing Global History of Technology from a Local Perspective: Stories from the Global South”, TU Darmstadt.

07/2019 Panelorganisation: „Technological Landscapes of Appropriation and Resistance”, internationaler Workshop „Writing Global History of Technology from a Local Perspective: Stories from the Global South”, TU Darmstadt.

07/2018 Panelorganisation: „Technological Landscapes of Appropriation and Resistance”, internationaler Workshop „Writing Global History of Technology from a Local Perspective: Stories from the Global South”, TU Darmstadt.

10/2016 Conference organisation: biennial conference of the Dutch Association of African Studies (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Afrikastudies, NVAS) „NVAS Africa Day 2016: Sport in Africa“, in cooperation with Utrecht University School of Governance, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Lectures and talks (selection)

09/2024 „Everyday bicycle repair work along fish trading routes in Southern Malawi”, Panel “Maintenance and Repair Studies: Exploring Change and Persistence in the History of Technology”, Tensions of Europe Conference  “Transformations. Fundamental Change and Technology” (ToE24), 19.-21.09/2024.

07/2024 „Fish trade, everyday bicycle repair work and bikesmithing in southeastern Malawi“, Panel „Unseen Actors: Repair in (unexpected) spaces (Part 1)”, Joint annual meeting ICOHTEC-SHOT “Reparando / Repair in the History of Technology, in Viña del Mar, Chile, 09.-14.07/2024.

06/2024 „Einblicke in die Monokulturen-Diversität Malawis: Tabak, Tee und Zuckerrohr im langen 20. Jahrhundert“, guest lecture in the research seminar on global environmental history and global history of technology, University Passau, 26/06/2024.

12/2023 Guest lecture „Technikwissenschaften und ihre Geschichte dekolonisieren“, Ringvorlesung „Studium Decoloniale. Forschung, Bildung und Vermittlung in postkolonialer Perspektive“, Chair of Modern and Contemporary History, Institute of History, TU Dresden, 12/12/2023.

06/2023 "Mobile und immobile Orte der Reparatur in der Côte d’Ivoire und Malawi im 20. Jahrhundert: Alltagsgeschichten aus einem ivorischen Waldgebiet und dem urbanen Zomba”, guest lecture in the research colloquium, Institut für Philosophie, Literatur-, Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte, TU Berlin, 05/06/2023.

03/2023 „Die mehrdimensionale Kritikalität von Palmen im kolonialen Westafrika der ersten Hälfte des 20.Jahrhunderts“, presentation in the double panel „Rohstoffe – kritisch. Unverzichtbarkeit, Ungleichheit und Konflikte in Produktion, Handel und Konsum“, 5. Kongress für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte „Verteilung und Teilhabe: Konflikte in polarisierten Gesellschaften“, Universität Leipzig, 29/-31/03/2023.

01/2023 „A Social History of Everyday Cycling Life in Zomba, 1895-2020", Konferenz „Technology and Material Culture in African History: Challenges and Potentials for Research and Teaching”, 4th – 8th January 2023, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 5/01/2023.

01/2023 „People, Technology, and Nature: Interactions in the Evergreen Rainforest of lower Côte d'Ivoire", „Technology and Material Culture in African History: Challenges and Potentials for Research and Teaching, 4th – 8th JAnuary 2023, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 05/01/2023.

03/2022 „Coping with Disruptions: The role of maintenance and repair work in the everyday railway life of Southern Côte d’Ivoire”, presentation at the Europalia Arts Festival “Trains and Tracks in Africa”, Leuven and Gent, Belgium.

10/2019 „Controlling the African Forest: Daily Gun Use during the Abbey Revolt of 1910”, Annual Conference „Exploring the Interface between Technology Art, and Design“ der Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), Milano, Italy.

06/2019 „Hunting the Iron Horse: Disruption of French infrastructure and social organisation in colonial Côte d'Ivoire“, 8th European Conference on African Studies 2019 (ECAS) “Africa: Connections and Disruptions” des Research Network of African Studies Centres in Europe AEGIS, Edinburgh, Scottland.

07/2018 „From Fragmentation to Comprehensiveness: Towards a Profound and well-balanced African History of Technology”, The 45th ICOHTEC Symposium “Technological drive from past to future? 50 Years of ICOHTEC”, St. Étienne, France.

International academic experience

Archival research: Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, France.
Oral History: Malawi, South Africa.
Museum research: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana.