Call for Papers

Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Kommission Kulturelle Kontexte des östlichen Europa in der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Empirische Kulturwissenschaft

The Johann Gottfried Herder Research Council

Call for Papers

Conference “Memory Activism in Central and Eastern Europe: Communities, Memory and Social Change”

Brno, 11.–12. Mai 2027

The past is constantly being renegotiated and is subject to ongoing processes of reflection, representation and (re)interpretation. Particularly in regions of Eastern Europe, it forms part of state policies on memory and history. At the same time, there is a growing number of citizens’ initiatives, community projects, artistic interventions, as well as museum and research activities that actively engage in public debates about the past and which are (can be) described as ‘memory activism’.

Memory activism represents a dynamic field of research at the intersection of memory studies, social and cultural anthropology/ethnology, sociology, museology, heritage studies, history, political science and cultural studies. Together with Jenny Wüstenberg and Yifat Gutman (Challenging the Meaning of the Past from Below: A Typology for Comparative Research on Memory Activists. Memory Studies 15(6), 2022: 2), we define memory activists as “actors (individual or collective) who engage in the strategic commemoration of the past in order to achieve or prevent change in public memory by working outside state channels”. The focus thus shifts from representations of the past to the actors, everyday practices, emotions, material aspects of memory, civil society initiatives and networks that shape collective memory.

The conference aims to provide a forum for discussing current forms of memory activism in Central and Eastern Europe. These regions are of particular interest for research into memory and memory activism due to their experiences of shifting borders, ethnic conflicts, imperial legacies, totalitarian regimes, post-socialist transformation, European integration and current geopolitical conflicts. However, memory activism can pursue different objectives – ranging from democratisation and reconciliation to the intensification of conflicts or the incitement of hatred; in the words of Jenny Wüstenberg: “memory activism is a concept that can help us understand mobilisation and repertoires of action right across the political spectrum” (https://memorymigrationrelationality.org/relationality/memory-activism/).

One of the conference’s aims is also to initiate a discussion on the role of researchers themselves. Today, anthropologists, ethnologists, historians, museologists and other experts are increasingly acting not merely as observers of memory processes, but are actively collaborating with local communities to develop archives, exhibitions, educational projects or other forms of participatory research. Such an engaged approach raises a number of methodological and ethical questions concerning authority, representation, participation and the relationship between academic research and civil society.

We welcome papers addressing, amongst other things, the following topics:

• memory, democracy and civic participation; memory activism and local communities
• the genealogy of memory activism in Central and Eastern Europe
• a conflict-ridden past, competing memories, the questioning of national narratives and memory activism
• citizens’ initiatives and the mobilisation of memory in times of democratic crises, war, migration or climate change
• digital technologies and citizen participation in the shaping of memory, community archives / ‘archives from below’
• border-related, transnational and networked history and memory activism
• artistic interventions in public memory; performance and memory within the context of memory activism
• academics as actors in memory activism

The conference is primarily aimed at researchers from the fields of social and cultural anthropology, ethnology, history, sociology, cultural studies, museology, heritage studies and other related disciplines. Our aim is to foster dialogue between the various disciplines whilst placing an emphasis on empirical research.

We particularly welcome papers based on original ethnographic or qualitative research, comparative studies, reflections on participatory research, as well as presentations of projects that link the academic sphere with civil society initiatives, or studies that trace the genealogy of memory activism.

Guidelines for submitting papers

• Abstract of no more than 300 words in German or English to the email adresses listed below;
• Brief biographical details of no more than 150 words in German of English;
• Submission deadline: 15 November 2026;
• Notification of acceptance: 20 December 2026.

Contacts:

Jana Nosková, Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, email: noskova@eu.cas.cz

Marketa Spiritova, Institut für Volkskunde der Kommission für bayerische Landesgeschichte bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, email: spiritova@volkskunde.badw.de

Download pdf here.