Collective Memory and Democracy in Central & Eastern Europe: Challenge, Remedy, or New Perspective?

Abstract

This panel approaches the uncertainties facing democratic politics in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the present and future by looking to the past. Specifically, it brings memory studies into conversation with political research in order to explore how collective memory may impact the strength of a given country’s democracy, either positively or negatively. Contestations over the past have been an ever-present element of CEE politics since the transition from communism, and memory studies as a discipline flourishes in the region, centering CEE not only in terms of case studies, but also as a space from which theoretical developments emanate. Political science research, on the other hand, tends to sideline both the importance of memory politics and CEE as a space for theoretical innovation on democracy. This panel pushes back against both of these trends, collectively arguing that the challenges facing those who aim(ed) to establish and maintain democracy across CEE offer fruitful ground to study the role that memory might play in entrenching, sustaining, and challenging democratic systems. In doing so, the panel also demonstrates the potential for developing democratic theory through CEE examples. The papers that comprise the panel consider several different ways that collective memory might impact or offer a new perspective on the quality of a democracy. The first paper introduces a novel theoretical framework for studying the strength of a given democracy through a mnemonic lens. It conceptualizes democracy as a narrative emerging from a nation’s collective memory, arguing that the two should be approached not separately, but together. It demonstrates the potential for this framework through a study of the Czech democratic narrative. The second paper explores the role of memory during the post-communist transition to democracy, focusing on religious institutions as holders of collective memory. The third paper investigates tensions between memory and democracy in contemporary Romanian politics by revealing how the current Romanian far-right relies on mnemonic tropes from the socialist era. It argues that this confluence of far-right and socialist should be understood not as paradoxical, but instead representative of the ideological contradictions emerging in the politics of Romania as a peripheral and inter-imperial state. Finally, the fourth paper turns to mnemonic diplomacy, studying how Ukrainian diplomacy has mobilized mnemonic in its efforts to build international solidarity to protect its democratic system and national sovereignty. Together, the papers offer a multiperspective look at the various ways that collective memory comes to play a role in democratic politics. In doing so, the panel as a whole argues for the further integration of memory studies into political research and demonstrates the fruitfulness of Central and Eastern Europe as a region from which theoretical developments in this area might emerge.

Title	Details
Inheritors of Communism or New Warriors? The Development of Left-Wing Parties in Czechia and East Germany in Times of Polycrisis	View Paper Details
The Story Behind the System: A Mnemonic and Semiotic Approach to Democracy and the Threats Facing it	View Paper Details
Remembering Through Silence: Orthodoxy as a Repository of Post-Communist Memory in Bulgaria	View Paper Details
Unwrapping Violent Nostalgias. The Fascist Afterlives of National Communism	View Paper Details
Crafting Solidarity in a Changing Global Order: Mnemonic Diplomacy in Ukraine’s Decolonization Project	View Paper Details