Effects of Historical Legacies and Narratives on Contemporary Public Opinion in the Post-Communist Space

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Our panel brings together a range of methodological approaches and empirical scope conditions on the role of history in contemporary politics in the post-communist space. Todd Nelson and Patrick Mahoney take a theoretical approach, looking at the effects of the instrumentalization of Great Patriotic War narratives by the Putin Regime in Russia. Isabelle DeSisto takes a cross-national empirical approach, looking at how family legacies of communist repression shape contemporary political participation. DeSisto documents a positive association between family repression and political participation, then investigates the mechanisms behind this relationship – both in terms of political socialization and economic processes. George Soroka and Nicholas Fraser use a survey experiment and focus groups to look at the effect of the 1943-45 Wolyn massacres in Poland by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) on contemporary acceptance of Ukrainian Refugees. Finally, Konstantin Ash bridges contemporary narratives and historical legacy through a survey experiment that primes Ukrainians in May and June 2022 with positive narratives about the UPA insurgency, Holodomor, and the Red Army during World War II while asking about family history with all three events. Ash’s findings show the UPA insurgency narrative decreases support for concessions to Russia, while the Red Army narrative increases blame on the Russian government and people, rather than Vladimir Putin. Together, our panels look at how historical events shape contemporary political attitudes and behavior and how governments can structure narratives around those events for political gain, albeit with unforeseen negative effects from Russian World War II narratives.

Sub Unit

• International Relations, Security Studies, Foreign Policy

Chair

• Andrew Scott Barnes, Kent State U

Papers

• History and Support for Settlement of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine - Konstantin Ash, U of Central Florida

• Family Repression and Political Mobilization: Evidence from Eastern Europe - Isabelle DeSisto, Princeton U

• Assessing 'Deservingness': Historical Conflict and Polish Reactions to Ukrainians Refugees - George Soroka, Harvard U

Discussant

• Monika Nalepa, U of Chicago