Decolonize! Historiography of and in Eastern and Southeastern Europe in a Paradigm Shift

Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine has dramatically expanded and updated the debate that has been going on intensively for some years, especially in Western Europe, about the historical confrontation with the colonial and imperial legacy of the former European great powers. Putin's neo-imperial vision of Russia's re-establishment as a "Euro-Asian superpower” clearly shows that imperialism and colonialism are not phenomena from past centuries. At the same time, the events of the last few years have exposed the focus on Russia that has dominated politics, economics, the media, but also cultural and social studies in Western Europe for decades as the result of colonial thought patterns - as deeply rooted ignorance of the political, cultural and historical diversity of Eastern Europe.
But the view of "Eastern and South-Eastern Europe" as a whole as a special region lagging behind the "rest of Europe" and "catching up" in its development has also come under criticism from a post-colonialist perspective. Are the times really over when "Balkanisation" was used not only to indicate the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire into various successor states, but also the arrival of "Balkan conditions", which were equated with the reign of chaos, violence, backwardness and brutality and set against a "civilised" Europe? Doesn't the idea still persist that in Eastern Europe we are experiencing "a backslide into a past long thought to have been overcome"? And doesn't the current geopolitical discussion about Southeast Europe as a "potential gateway for Russian, Chinese and Turkish interests" also harbour the danger of undervaluing the autonomy, interests and perspectives of Southeast European societies?
This year's European History Forum will examine whether and in what way the international discussion on decolonisation can be relevant and productive for the historiography of Eastern and Southeastern Europe: for rethinking one's own standpoint, for new methodological approaches and new research topics. What contribution can historiography in and about Eastern and Southeastern Europe make to breaking down persisting colonial patterns of thought? What are the chances and dangers of interpreting Eastern and South-Eastern European history in terms of imperialism and colonialism? How can it be integrated into international research on the topic? How does modern historiography in different states of the region deal with imperial heritage as a unifying historical bracket? And how does independent historical scholarship distinguish itself from once again being put at the service of political agendas?

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The "European History Forum" initiative, jointly launched by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and its long-standing partner organization and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Memorial International, aims to provide an opportunity for exchange, especially for younger historians, museum staff, media and non-governmental organizations from the region. In this way, a pan-European discourse on memory cultures and history policy is to be promoted. At the same time, the forum is aimed at all those who deal critically with the history of the 20th century and its mediation in a professional, honorary or private capacity.

With:
Franziska Davies, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
Maia Barkaia, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA)
Radina Vučetić, University of Belgrade
Nemanja Radonjić, Historian, Belgrade
Botakoz Kassymbekova, University of Basel
and others.

Information: Nina Happe, East and Southeast Europe Division, Heinrich Böll Foundation, e-mail: happe@boell.de, phone +49 (0)30 285 34 - 384