Re- | Visions of history in right-wing populism and the far right.

Right-wing populism and the far right have once again become a central political force − in Europe and across the globe. Over the last two decades, right-wing populist and far-right parties have been elected into regional and national parliaments, and have formed governments in an alarming number of countries. 

A core element of their politics is the attempt to revise and redefine history. However, there are few comparative works on how right-wing and radical right populists interpret, reinterpret and instrumentalize the past in pan-European and global perspectives. 

This is the topic of the annual conference of the Leibniz Research Alliance Value of the Past and its cooperation partners: the institutes of the Max Weber Foundation and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The conference will bring together expertise from different European countries, and it will also look at right-wing populist movements and far-right thinking in the US, India, and Japan.

The following guiding questions will frame the discussion:

• What historical narratives and visions of the past are promoted by right-wing populist and far-right actors in different national and transnational contexts?
• How are right-wing counter-narratives, denialism, apocalyptic thinking, and myth-making strategically employed?
• What role do media and digital platforms play in disseminating right-wing historical interpretations?
• What similarities and differences can be observed in the uses of history among right-wing movements in Europe and beyond?
• How can academia, civil society and politics effectively respond to the appropriation and revision of history by the far right?

On the opening evening ( 8 September 2025) of the conference, Volker Weiß will deliver a keynote titled "Historical Revisionism Today" (In German with simultaneous translation.)

A public panel discussion will follow, exploring history as a political resource for both right-wing populist and democratic movements:

With: 

• Volker Weiß (historian and journalist)
• Frank Bösch (historian and director of the Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam)
• Constanze Itzel (director of the House of European History Brussel)
• Katja Meier (Member of the Saxon State Parliament and former Saxon State Minister for Justice, Democracy, Europe, and Equality, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)

Conference Program
Please refer to the conference flyer below. 
You can also access the current program online via the following link: https://revisionisms.hypotheses.org/ 

Registration
Please use our online registration form.

Contact
Clara Frysztacka
Head of Contemporary History Division
Heinrich Böll Foundation
Email: Clara.Frysztacka@BOELL.DE

Achim Saupe
Project leader Leibniz Research Alliance Value of the Past
Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF)
Email: saupe@zzf-potsdam.de

Organisers:

• Leibniz Research Alliance Value of the Past
• Max Weber Foundation (Warsaw, Paris, Rome, Tokyo)
• Heinrich Böll Foundation

» Participation on site
at the the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Conference Center, Schumannstr. 8, 10117 Berlin

» Towards Greater Accessibility
At the Heinrich Böll Foundation, we are constantly striving to remove barriers. Whether in our building, in the release of publications or at online events. All information on this can be found under the following link: https://www.boell.de/de/auf-dem-weg-zur-barrierefreiheit