Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2022

European Memory and Conflicting Visions of the Past

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Advocates the existence of conflicting interpretations of the past, and minority and dissenting narratives.
  • Sees conflicting interpretations of the past as inevitable but not necessarily socially harmful.
  • Argues that the EU needs to develop its common approach to the past in the face of multiple and conflicting narratives.

Part of the book series: Memory Politics and Transitional Justice (MPTJ)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
  2. Introduction

    • Mano Toth
    Pages 1-19
  3. Pluralist Approach to Memory

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21
    2. The Misleading Metaphor of Memory

      • Mano Toth
      Pages 23-47
    3. Reflexivist Social Theory of Memory

      • Mano Toth
      Pages 49-61
    4. Pluralist Ethics of Memory

      • Mano Toth
      Pages 63-119
  4. Pluralist European Mythscape

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121
  5. Conclusion

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 231-231
    2. Conclusion

      • Mano Toth
      Pages 233-243
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 245-246

About this book

This book discusses a number of ways in which the dialogue about Europe’s past and future could be rendered more inclusive, such as the promotion of critical and sentimental education and the creation of virtual and actual social spaces in which citizens and organised identity groups can participate. The discussion about European memory is far from being a “merely” symbolic issue with no political consequences. Imagining Europe and its past in different ways will lead to different real political outcomes. For instance, thinking about European integration as an embodiment of the values of the Enlightenment (such as human rights, liberal democracy, and reason), as a guarantor of peace on the continent, as a guarantor of prosperity, or as a guarantor that massive human rights violations like genocide will “never again” be committed on its soil, all entail different political objectives. Similarly, conflicting understandings of European memory as either a thing or a social construct, aseither one memory or a plurality of memories, as either the end point of deliberation or a dialogical process, represent not merely inconsequential cultural “froth on the tides of society,” but crucially important issues with real political consequences. The book is intended to contribute to this discussion about the common European approach to the past (and thus to the future).

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of International Relations, Central European University, Vienna, Austria

    Mano Toth

About the author

Mano Toth is Visiting Lecturer at the Central European University, Austria. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, and specialises in European memory politics. His work has been previously published in Millennium, the Journal of Common Market Studies, and Memory Studies.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access