Critical History

Abstract The protests sparked by the death of George Floyd have had an unexpected impact both on the media and on Italian public debate. Black Lives Matter (BLM) in particular has been watched very closely by various analysts as a movement deemed capable of providing new impetus for the discussion about identity, civil rights and immigration in Italy. However, the Americanisation of the discourse about racism has crowded out any attempt to analyse Italy's repressed colonial memory, which continues to be the exclusive and limited focus of academic discussions, ...
read more "Stories of Men and Statues"
A plea for an inclusive and differentiating pan-European culture of remembranceHow many times have you heard someone say "Europe has been at peace since 1945" or "There has been no war in Europe since 1945"? The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, which left over 130,000 people dead and created millions of displaced persons and refugees, are quickly forgotten (not to mention the war that has been under way in Eastern Ukraine since 2014). When challenged about this, people's response tends to be: "Oh well, I was of course referring to the EU." ...
read more "1945 versus 1995, Europe versus the Balkans?"
During a European Parliament (EP) Culture Committee hearing in September 2015 about intercultural dialogue, Barry van Driel spoke about the results of a study that revealed a sharp decline in young people’s knowledge of the Holocaust. This was followed, just a few weeks after the Paris terror attacks in November 2015, by the adoption of the Report on the role of intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and education in promoting EU fundamental values. However, this report makes no mention whatsoever of the fight against anti- Semitism. Debates held in the ...
read more "A surspirsing fall from Grace?"
Report on the panel debate at the Rosa-Luxemburg-StiftungIf you could rearrange the permanent exhibition of the House of European history, what would you do? Display the magnitude of European colonialism and imperialism far beyond the first half of the 19th century. Put greater emphasis on the significant contributions by citizens’ movements to the development of the European Union. Rather relate to anti-fascist struggles across Europe instead of comparing Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union under the...
read more "What’s Left of the past? Revisiting ideas for an emancipatory and united Europe"