Paths of Extrication, Postcommunist Memory Politics, and the Rise of Populism

• In Event: The Politics of Memory Activism

Abstract

In comparison to other social sciences, notably sociology and anthropology, or the humanities, political science has less directly engaged in the study of memory. This is not to say that political science confines explanation to proximal causes alone, but that it approaches the past, more frequently, using different frameworks, such as historical justice or the impact of historical legacies. The point of this paper is to show that there are concepts and analytic tools from political science that can be effectively conjoined with the study of the politics of memory that can elucidate important patterns that help us understand how actors’ understanding of the past affects not only their politics in the present but larger political outcomes. In this paper I redeploy the theory of modes of transition as a structural frame to help explain actor successes that have contributed to the problem of democratic backsliding in Central Europe.

Author

• Michael Bernhard, University of Florida