TROUBLED PASTS, RETROTOPIAS, AND WAR MOBILIZATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE Cover Image

PASSES TROUBLES, RETRO-UTOPIES ET MOBILISATIONS GUERRIERES EN EUROPE CONTEMPORAINE
TROUBLED PASTS, RETROTOPIAS, AND WAR MOBILIZATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE

Author(s): Alina Iorga
Subject(s): Political history, Recent History (1900 till today), Politics and communication, Studies in violence and power, History of European Union, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai
Keywords: memory wars; memory games; (re)mythologization of history; restorative nostalgia; populist neo-nationalism;

Summary/Abstract: After the horrific experiences of ex-Yugoslavia, the tragedy of Ukraine reveals the terrible consequences of the memory conflicts radicalization. Anticipated by a constant mnemonic war led by the Russia particularly against its Eastern neighbors, it proves “what happens when memory wars turn into real wars”. Since the end of Cold War, in the context of the re-nationalization of ideologies, the remythologization of national histories, and the reshaping of memory politics, the European memory games, as part of the struggle for recognition, have often became memory wars. This article provides some relevant insights about the political instrumentation of the “restorative nostalgia”/“retrotopia” in the (post-)Cold War illiberal memory games/wars, against the background of the growing crises connected to the rise of neo-nationalism.

  • Issue Year: 67/2022
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 155-181
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: French
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