This book discusses a number of ways in which the dialogue about Europe’s past and future could be rendered more inclusive, such as the promotion of critical and sentimental education and the creation of virtual and actual social spaces in which citizens and organised identity groups can participate. The discussion about European memory is far from being a “merely” symbolic issue with no political consequences. Imagining Europe and its past in different ways will lead to different real political outcomes. For instance, thinking about European integration as an embodiment of the values of the Enlightenment (such as human rights, liberal democracy, and reason), as a guarantor of peace on the continent, as a guarantor of prosperity, or as a guarantor that massive human rights violations like genocide will “never again” be committed on its soil, all entail different political objectives. Similarly, conflicting understandings of European memory as either a thing or a social construct, as either one memory or a plurality of memories, as either the end point of deliberation or a dialogical process, represent not merely inconsequential cultural “froth on the tides of society,” but crucially important issues with real political consequences. The book is intended to contribute to this discussion about the common European approach to the past (and thus to the future).
Author(s): Mano Toth
Series: Memory Politics and Transitional Justice
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 269
City: Cham
Preface
Acknowledgements
About This Book
Contents
About the Author
Abbreviations
Note About the Use of Abbreviations in Tables
List of Tables
1 Introduction
1.1 The Problem of European Memory and Its Relevance
1.2 A New Approach to the Idea of European Memory
1.3 Variations of the Idea of European Memory
1.4 Who Does European Memory?
1.5 Methodology
1.6 Contribution
1.7 Structure of the Book
References
Part I Pluralist Approach to Memory
2 The Misleading Metaphor of Memory
2.1 Understanding Collective Memory
2.2 Collective Memory as a Misleading Metaphor
2.3 Memory and Myth
2.4 Memory Waves
2.5 Transnational Memory
2.6 Conclusion
References
3 Reflexivist Social Theory of Memory
3.1 The Agent-Structure Debate
3.2 Reflexivist Social Theory of Memory
References
4 Pluralist Ethics of Memory
4.1 Duty-Based Ethics of Memory and the Notion of Historical Truth
4.2 The Notion of Historical Truth
4.3 A Typology of Narratives
4.4 Memory and the Discipline of History
4.5 Pluralist Ethics of Memory
4.6 Memories and the Pluralist State
4.7 Acknowledging and Challenging All Memories
4.8 Critical and Sentimental Education
4.9 Transgressing Sacred Narratives
4.10 Conclusion
References
Part II Pluralist European Mythscape
5 Disciplinary Approaches to the Idea of European Memory
5.1 Scholarly Approaches to the Idea of European Memory
5.2 Academia and the European Memory Wars
References
6 Historical Trajectories of the Idea of European Memory
6.1 Preludes to the Idea of European Memory
6.2 The Emergence of the Idea of European Memory
6.3 The Rise of the Idea of European Memory
6.4 The Actors in the Debate About the Idea of European Memory
6.5 Reconciliation of European Histories Group
6.6 Platform of European Memory and Conscience
6.7 Europe for Citizens Programme
6.8 House of European History
6.9 Challenging the Notion of the “East–West Memory Divide”
6.10 Conclusion
References
7 European Institutions and the Idea of European Memory
7.1 European Parliament
7.2 Reconciliation of European Histories Group and Platform of European Memory and Conscience
7.3 Europe for Citizens Programme
7.4 House of European History
References
Part III Conclusion
8 Conclusion
8.1 About Memory Zealots and Herodians
8.2 The Vision of a Pluralist European Mythscape
8.3 Towards a Pluralist European Mythscape
References
Index
