The collapse of the Iron Curtain, the renationalization of eastern Europe, and the simultaneous eastward expansion of the European Union have all impacted the way the past is remembered in today's ...eastern Europe. At the same time, in recent years, the Europeanization of Holocaust memory and a growing sense of the need to stage a more "self-critical" memory has significantly changed the way in which western Europe commemorates and memorializes the past. The increasing dissatisfaction among scholars with the blanket, undifferentiated use of the term "collective memory" is evolving in new directions. This volume brings the tension into focus while addressing the state of memory theory itself.
This article argues that German–Israeli reconciliation after 1945 has not been as exemplary as is often suggested. Drawing on key aspects which emerge from a discussion of relevant concepts in the ...first part of the article–transitional justice and reconciliation–it will show that Germany’s memory culture, as evidenced in the elite discourse, has indeed developed in a way that points to a successful reconciliation between the two countries. On the other hand, however, German regret emerged only reluctantly, was by and large confined to West Germany, and took a long time to establish itself formally, with emphasis on German suffering rather than suffering caused by Germans always playing an important role in German collective memory after 1945. It will also show that at grass-roots level, reconciliation between Germany and Israel is far from unproblematic. Apart from providing a critical assessment of the reconciliation between Germany and Israel after 1945, the article contributes to current academic literature on transitional justice, reconciliation and the role of memory which suggests that even though commemoration and micro-level reconciliation might be important, the geopolitical context in which reconciliation takes place and strategic security considerations also play a significant role.
This Special Issue consists of a small selection of the wide range of papers which were delivered at the seminars. It can thus only provide a snapshot. We have, however, tried to ensure that the ...choice of the papers included in this volume also reflects the fact that it was academics AND practitioners who contributed to the overall success of the series. Whereas the first five contributors (Schweiger, de la Porte, Funk, Allen and Aldred, Pogátsa) examine their various topics from an academic perspective, the last two papers (Galgóczi and Medhurst/Tortolano) provide assessments of the impact of the Single European Market on Central and Eastern European and wider EU member state economies and societies from a trade union perspective.
This article examines recent dynamics of collective memory in German–American relations. After an introduction which outlines the importance of history and memory for bilateral relations, the article ...traces the evolution of collective memories of the two countries and identifies the key filters through which they evaluate each other. It then identifies the key characteristics of German–American relations since the advent of Donald Trump to the American presidency. This is followed by an analysis which examines Trump’s use and abuse of history and memory and what that means for his foreign policy in general and German–American relations in particular. In view of the way Donald Trump has taken the subjective nature of collective memories to an extreme by largely disconnecting these memories from their historical context at the same time as extensively referencing his own history and experience, the article argues that we might be witnessing the end of memory, in particular the end of memory’s direct impact on political discourse and policy.
This article investigates the relationship between Transylvanian Saxons (Siebenbürger Sachsen) and their perceived "external homeland." The authors consider the history of German minorities in ...East-Central Europe and, more specifically, briefly outline the history of Transylvanian Saxons. Against this backdrop, this article examines the changing nature of minority policies promoted by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) until the present day, whilst juxtaposing this with Transylvanian Saxon discourses on identity and nationhood. In so doing, this article argues that the discrepancy between the mutual expectations of the FRG and Transylvanian Saxon émigrés became very pronounced after 1989. This then has led to what appears to be the end of the Saxon community, as émigrés have found themselves torn between assimilation and a longing for a return to Transylvania.
The aim of this paper is to offer a critique of the proposal of "methodological cosmopolitanism" in theoretical terms and to substantiate this critique by providing an account of the dynamics of ...collective memory and identity in postunification Germany. In the first part, we look at the arguments about methodological cosmopolitanism and their derivative, the idea of cosmopolitan memory, illustrated by the case of Holocaust memory. In the second part we look at the case of Germany: firstly at its postwar experience of the attempted construction of "postnational" identity, and then at more recent trends, contemporaneous with the Berlin Republic, towards a "normalization" of national identity in Germany. The Holocaust plays a crucial, but different, role in each phase, we suggest. In the conclusion we return to more general themes, asking what the German case tells us about the cosmopolitanization thesis more generally.
Angela Merkel came to power at a crucial time in regards to Germany's relationship with its past. Where would she position herself in light of Gerhard Schröder's approach that had offered a new way ...of accepting responsibility for the past and integrating it into the twenty-first century present by explicitly making it a key element of German national identity, but also in view of her East German biography? Would she continue and maybe even reinforce the institutionalization of Holocaust-centered memory and-given the forceful return of the topic of German victimhood-complement it with the institutionalization of the memory of German suffering, or would she emphasize the latter at the expense of the former? This paper attempts to answer these questions by examining Merkel's politics of the past during her first three years in office.
The two decades since unification have witnessed considerable changes in German collective memory. Whereas views about the place that the Nazi past should occupy in Germany's historical consciousness ...were still very polarized before the fall of the Wall, developments since unification have resulted in a past that is much more accommodating and allows an easier identification with the German nation. A more institutionalized and internationalized approach to the Nazi past, which incorporates the memory of German suffering, is increasingly complemented by a focus on positive aspects of German history, like the successes of the Bonn Republic, the peaceful East German revolution of 1989, and unification in 1990.
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