Call for Thematic Issues

The Politics of History and Memory: Actors, Tools and Narratives - Call for Papers (thematic issue 3/2022)

15. 3. 2022 - The gradual collapse of authoritarian regimes in Europe and Latin America in the last third of the twentieth century was naturally followed by a revision of the relationship to the past, whether communist or fascist. This process became an organic part of social liberalization and was neither conflict-free nor painless. It created a dilemma between the demand for historical truth and for the restitution of historical justice on the one hand, and the need for social stability and a basic consensus on the other. In some countries, alongside systemic transformation, it is now possible to more openly discuss not too distant grievances, injustices and guilt. In others, however, society is being confronted by repressed historical traumas, with demands for at least a symbolic atonement for past wrongs and for the memory of the former losers and victims.
The transformation of historical self-reflection after the collapse of the old regimes could first be observed in the break with legitimizing historical narratives, the expansion of sources of information and the opening of taboo topics. Subsequently, the institutional base for research, school teaching and cultural institutions was transformed. Various foreign authorities, social science approaches and memorial actors came forward with their strategies and innovations. The pantheon of national heroes and commemorations have been transformed and different, at times even contradictory, versions of the past have started competing in the public space. Such plurality, however, began to hinder some political and intellectual elites who saw it as a potential threat to their own values, goals or social integrity and began to use conformist interpretations of the past as political capital in domestic and foreign policy. If the past is the natural battleground of contemporaries, it is no longer only scholarly arguments, value preferences or lived experiences that serve as ammunition, but also power claims and tools. The recent war in Ukraine, with its propagandistic justification, demonstrates how pernicious the potential of utilitarian historical constructs and manipulations can be.
In this thematic issue of Soudobé dějiny / Czech Journal of Contemporary History we would like to conceptualize this process of changing historical self-reflection, to capture its transnational context and national specificities and to scrutinize the metanarratives that accompany it. We do not limit ourselves solely to reflections on the post-communist world, and the editors also welcome texts on the experiences of Southern European and Latin American countries. The issues covered may include, for example, the following questions: Are the changes in the institutional basis of research and commemoration comparable across borders and time? How are state-established memory institutes and museums typical in relation to the representation of the authoritarian past and what is their impact on the memory of particular societies? What ideas about this past and its legacy are promoted by relevant political actors and what tools do they use? How are historical symbols and sites of memory invoked and transformed in the contestations over the past? What is the role of historians themselves in confronting the political instrumentalization of history?
Manuscripts in English should be submitted by 15 August 2022 via https://sd.usd.cas.cz (section “for authors – submit manuscript”). Authors are also welcome to send their abstracts and drafts of their intended texts.
Indexing: Scopus, CEEOL, ERIH+
Contact: sd@usd.cas.cz

Revisionism and Contemporary History Research – Call to Authors

25. 10. 2021 – The media controversy over revisionism in research on socialist Czechoslovakia drew attention to an important fact – that historiography, and the humanities and social studies in general, regularly revise the starting points and conclusions of their research. These revisions give rise to expert controversies, which often reflect current political disputes and may therefore spill over into debates far beyond the academic sphere. Issues in contemporary history have long been central themes of such controversies.

The debate on totalitarianism and revisionism in research on state socialism, most recently covered in Radek Buben and Martin Štefek’s article entitled Konceptuální labyrinty. Kolik pojetí totalitarismu znáš, tolikrát jsi revizionistou? [Conceptual labyrinths. For as many concepts of totalitarianism that you know, so many times are you a revisionist] (Soudobé dějiny 2/2021 https://sd.usd.cas.cz/corproof.php?tartkey=sod-000000-0019), is a famous and today archetypical polemic of this type. This was, however, only one of many similar disputes over methodological innovations and revisions of interpretations in contemporary history research. As a follow-up to the publication of the cited article, the editorial team of the Soudobé dějiny/CJCH journal invites authors to submit papers for a thematic issue dedicated to this phenomenon. The aim of the issue is to open up discussion on revisionism that would show the broad nature of this theme and point out, for example, the complicated history of the term revisionism, interaction between historiography and politics in controversies over interpretations of the recent past, or other “revisionist” disputes that so far have been overlooked in the current Czech debate.

The issues covered by the papers may include, for example, the following:

1) Revisionism – history of the term

2) Methodology of contemporary history research and the issue of revisionism

3) Historical revisions and study of expert controversies

4) Discussion on revisionism in Cold War research

5) Holocaust denial and other extreme forms of historical revision

6) Gender-inspired revisions of dominant historical concepts and actors

7) Revisionism and the media image of contemporary history research

8) Historical revisions and the politics of history

Manuscripts should be submitted by 15 February 2022 via the journal’s online editorial system at https://sd.usd.cas.cz, FOR AUTHORS – SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT