Content analysis of living historical memory around the world: Terrorization of the Anglosphere, and national foundations of hope in developing societies

Recently, researchers have endeavored to extend cultural perspectives of collective remembering by examining communicative or living historical memory (collective memories that emerge from informal communication between ordinary people). The current study examined the content and subjective evaluation of living historical memory from open-ended nominations of historical events provided by samples from 39 societies. Results showed that Western societies were dominated by living memories of terrorism, reflecting a distinctly negative climate. By contrast, many developing societies displayed a more positive climate in living memory that was rooted in events related to their nation’s foundation. The current study opens up avenues for conceptualizing the role of collective remembering in shaping emotional climates that influence (or may be part of) national political culture.

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The Peculiarities of Overcoming the Painful Nazi and Socialist Past in Contemporary Germany

Diplomatic Ukraine ◽

10.37837/2707-7683-2019-43 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 664-685

Author(s):

Аndriy Kudriachenko

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Political Culture ◽

Historical Memory ◽

German Society ◽

Federal Republic Of Germany ◽

National Socialist ◽

Modern Germany ◽

New Public ◽

Historical Heritage

The article analyses the components of overcoming the national socialist past of Germany and the totalitarian legacy of the socialist era, identifies four historical periods, displays the fundamental difference and common features in the approaches of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic to the study of the national socialist past, and outlines a system of measures for the formation of political culture in reunified Germany. Various components of the policy of clear distancing from the Hitler regime and integration of former Nazis into new public institutions as a way to establish modern democratic foundations of Germany’s development are considered. The article emphasizes the importance of the generational change and critical public study of the painful past and an important role of the establishment of a new political culture. The growing public interest and intensive public discussions in united Germany related to the formation of historical memory are pointed out. The importance and significance of studying the GDR’s past and overcoming differences between citizens of the Eastern and Western parts of reunified Germany are emphasized. The article also outlines new approaches and visions of self-identification of a state, society and citizens based on the so-called constitutional patriotism. The author emphasizes that the German society has established the idea that any positive historical myths cannot become a basis for the genuine development of a country and that an antidote to the repetition of the terrible pages of history is not relegating them to oblivion but immortal memory thereof. Such an approach included an appropriate set of sociopolitical and economic measures ranging from property restitution and lustration to the payment of monetary compensation to victims of the regime and creation of memorial complexes. The author hopes that overcoming the burdensome Nazi and totalitarian past will continue to serve as a powerful guarantee of the democratic progress of modern Germany. Keywords: FRG, GDR, historical memory, World War II, national tragedy, historical heritage.

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Approaching the past: a tangled interplay of memory, political choices and historical science. With examples from the Nordic and Baltic countries and Romania

The Romanian Journal for Baltic and Nordic Studies ◽

10.53604/rjbns.v7i2_5 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 55-68

Author(s):

Jardar Seim

Keyword(s):

Urban Landscape ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Ordinary People ◽

Historical Science ◽

Politics Of Memory ◽

The Past ◽

Baltic Countries ◽

Political Choices ◽

Political Conditions

A discussion of topics connected with “historical memory” and “politics of memory” presupposes that we consider how and why we are approaching the past. In this paper I shall point to some ways the past is being approached by individuals, social groups and political authorities – and some reasons for such approaches. But I shall also consider the opposite choice, that of not wanting to get closer to the past, preferring instead to keep a safe distance or even to ignore it, at least painful parts of it. Memories in different forms are important in our approaches to the past. The same is true for scientific history. The interplay between memory and historical science is complicated in itself. The existence of political guidance or explicit political provisions concerning the past makes it even more complicated to understand how our relations with the past are shaped and what their functions are in a given society. In my opinion, it is impossible to generalize about such problems. But comparisons may be fruitful, for instance presentations of wars in school textbooks from different countries, or how succeeding political regimes in one country try to charge the urban landscape with a new (or old) political meaning that legitimizes the present regime or demonize another one, by changing street names, erecting or destroying monuments etc. National anthems are another field that is suited for meaningful comparisons. And even communal or personal memories that are studied without a comparison or generalization in mind may provide ideas and perspectives for dealing with quite different memories under other political conditions. Finally, the role of the presumed scientific historian ought to be examined a little. Is he or she just a rational and neutral judge of the past – compared to ordinary people with undocumented and emotional memories, or to politicians with ideological motives for approaching the past?

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Editor's Note

Constellations ◽

10.29173/cons28832 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Emily Kaliel

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

Public Memory ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Historical Analysis ◽

Red River ◽

Cultural Institutions ◽

Economic Rights ◽

The Past ◽

Relationship Of

The articles published in our Fall 2016 edition are connected loosely under the themes of public memory and the uses of identity in the past. We are thrilled to present to you three excellent articles in our Fall 2016 edition: The article "Dentro de la Revolución: Mobilizing the Artist in Alfredo Sosa Bravo's Libertad, Cultura, Igualdad (1961)" analyzes Cuban artwork as multi-layered work of propaganda whose conditions of creation, content, and exhibition reinforce a relationship of collaboration between artists and the state-run cultural institutions of post-revolutionary Cuba; moving through fifty years of history “’I Shall Never Forget’: The Civil War in American Historical Memory, 1863-1915" provides a captivating look at the role of reconciliationist and emancipationist intellectuals, politicians, and organizations as they contested and shaped the enduring memory of the Civil War; and finally, the article “Politics as Metis Ethnogenesis in Red River: Instrumental Ethnogenesis in the 1830s and 1840s in Red River” takes the reader through a historical analysis of the development of the Metis identity as a means to further their economic rights. We wholly hope you enjoy our Fall 2016 edition as much as our staff has enjoyed curating it. Editors Jean Middleton and Emily Kaliel Assistant Editors Magie Aiken and Hannah Rudderham Senior Reviewers Emily Tran Connor Thompson Callum McDonald James Matiko Bronte Wells

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THE PROTECTION OF THE RICH AGAINST THE POOR: THE POLITICS OF ADAM SMITH’S POLITICAL ECONOMY

Social Philosophy and Policy ◽

10.1017/s0265052520000084 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 138-158

Author(s):

James A. Harris

Keyword(s):

Political Economy ◽

Political Culture ◽

The Political ◽

Ordinary People ◽

General Attitude ◽

The Poor ◽

Natural Forms ◽

The Rich ◽

Definition Of ◽

Point Of Departure

AbstractMy point of departure in this essay is Smith’s definition of government. “Civil government,” he writes, “so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.” First I unpack Smith’s definition of government as the protection of the rich against the poor. I argue that, on Smith’s view, this is always part of what government is for. I then turn to the question of what, according to Smith, our governors can do to protect the wealth of the rich from the resentment of the poor. I consider, and reject, the idea that Smith might conceive of education as a means of alleviating the resentment of the poor at their poverty. I then describe how, in his lectures on jurisprudence, Smith refines and develops Hume’s taxonomy of the opinions upon which all government rests. The sense of allegiance to government, according to Smith, is shaped by instinctive deference to natural forms of authority as well as by rational, Whiggish considerations of utility. I argue that it is the principle of authority that provides the feelings of loyalty upon which government chiefly rests. It follows, I suggest, that to the extent that Smith looked to government to protect the property of the rich against the poor, and thereby to maintain the peace and stability of society at large, he cannot have sought to lessen the hold on ordinary people of natural sentiments of deference. In addition, I consider the implications of Smith’s theory of government for the question of his general attitude toward poverty. I argue against the view that Smith has recognizably “liberal,” progressive views of how the poor should be treated. Instead, I locate Smith in the political culture of the Whiggism of his day.

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“Incompleteness” and the Quest for Multiple Identities in South Africa

Africa Spectrum ◽

10.1177/000203971505000304 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 50 (3) ◽

pp. 81-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bernard C. Lategan

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Cultural Diversity ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Social Cohesion ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Multiple Identities ◽

The Self ◽

Important Goal ◽

Alternative Approach

The article explores the contours of multiple identities in contrast to singular identities in situations of social complexity and cultural diversity. Nyamnjoh's concepts of “incompleteness” and “frontier Africans” imply an alternative approach to identity formation. Although the formation of one's own, singular identity is a necessary stage in the development of each individual, it has specific limitations. This is especially true in situations of complexity and diversity and where the achievement of social cohesion is an important goal. With reference to existing theories of identity formation, an alternative framework is proposed that is more appropriate for the dynamic, open-ended nature of identity and better suited to encourage the enrichment of identity. The role of imagination, a strategy for crossing borders (with reference to Clingman's concept of a “grammar of identity”), the search for commonality, and the effect of historical memory are discussed. Enriched and multiple identities are not achieved by replacement or exchange, but by widening (existing) singular identities into a more inclusive and diverse understanding of the self.

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A Yahgan for the killing: murder, memory and Charles Darwin

The British Journal for the History of Science ◽

10.1017/s0007087411000641 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 415-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

JOSEPH L. YANNIELLI

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Charles Darwin ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Western Coast ◽

Cultural Interaction ◽

European Expansion ◽

Multiple Contexts ◽

History Of

AbstractIn March 1742, British naval officer John Byron witnessed a murder on the western coast of South America. Both Charles Darwin and Robert FitzRoy seized upon Byron's story a century later, and it continues to play an important role in Darwin scholarship today. This essay investigates the veracity of the murder, its appropriation by various authors, and its false association with the Yahgan people encountered during the second voyage of theBeagle(1831–1836). Darwin's use of the story is examined in multiple contexts, focusing on his relationship with the history of European expansion and cross-cultural interaction and related assumptions about slavery and race. The continuing fascination with Byron's story highlights the key role of historical memory in the development and interpretation of evolutionary theory.

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Contested Numbers: Census Controversies and the Press in 1960s Nigeria

The Journal of African History ◽

10.1017/s0021853721000438 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

Gerardo Serra ◽

Morten Jerven

Keyword(s):

Public Sphere ◽

Political Culture ◽

Cultural History ◽

The State ◽

Population Census ◽

The Public ◽

The Press ◽

Distribution Of Resources ◽

The Public Sphere

Abstract This article reconstructs the controversies following the release of the figures from Nigeria's 1963 population census. As the basis for the allocation of seats in the federal parliament and for the distribution of resources, the census is a valuable entry point into postcolonial Nigeria's political culture. After presenting an overview of how the Africanist literature has conceptualized the politics of population counting, the article analyses the role of the press in constructing the meaning and implications of the 1963 count. In contrast with the literature's emphasis on identification, categorization, and enumeration, our focus is on how the census results informed a broader range of visual and textual narratives. It is argued that analysing the multiple ways in which demographic sources shape debates about trust, identity, and the state in the public sphere results in a richer understanding of the politics of counting people and narrows the gap between demographic and cultural history.

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ETHNIC IDENTITY TRANSFORMATION OF RUSSIAN GERMANS (BY THE EXAMPLE OF MATERIALS IN THE KRASNOYARSK TERRITORY)

Northern Archives and Expeditions ◽

10.31806/2542-1158-2021-5-2-65-79 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 65-79

Author(s):

E.A. Grak ◽

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Identity ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Social Institutions ◽

Basic Research ◽

Identity Transformation ◽

Demographic Development ◽

80Th Anniversary ◽

Mixed Marriages ◽

Russian Germans

The article considers the nature of ethnic identity transformation of Russian Germans and their descendants currently residing in Krasnoyarsk Region. Ethnic and demographic development of Russian Germans is characterized by depopulation, migration loss and irreversibility of ethnic assimilation. This actualizes the problem of finding effective mechanisms for preservation and ethnical and cultural reproduction of the German ethnic group. Analyze of the ethnic identification model of the deported Germans and their descendants allows to determine key ethnic-forming factors. It is concluded that traditional markers, such as language and religion, have lost their meaning in the process of ethnic self-identification. Their reproduction was destroyed by alien ethnic environment with the spread of nationally mixed marriages. The article notes the increased role of historical memory in the post-deportation period, which is formed through interfamilial and intergenerational communication. Images of the past are represented and transmitted, first of all, through family and other social institutions. The otherness of the Russian Germans is manifested through their opposition to Germans of Germany. The study is based on biographical interviews of deported Germans and their descendants taken by a group of Krasnoyarsk historians during a field expedition to the south of the region in 2017 in termd of the project «Ethnic groups in Siberia: conditions for cultural memory preservation» with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. The article is dated to the 80th anniversary of the Russian Germans deportation.

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