National Memory Institutes: From Post-Communist Transitional Justice to De-Democratization

• In Event: Memory Regimes: Unpacking Contemporary Nationalist Memory Politics in Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe

Abstract

The post-communist region has increasingly established illiberal memory regimes, shifting from earlier transitional justice measures to an almost exclusive focus on the cooptation of memory by conservative identity politics. In East-Central Europe, this process is evident in the establishment of National Memory Institutes (NMIs), which seek to impose majoritarian narratives from the top down, engage selectively with historiography, and legislate history—practices that are incompatible with pluralism and open academic debate. Drawing on 60 in-depth interviews with NMI historians and historiographic experts, this paper examines the inner workings of illiberal memory regimes, revealing them as both components of and precursors to processes of de-democratization that undermine the autonomy of public life in the region.

Author

• Zoltan Dujisin, Corvinus U (Hungary)