Autumn Seminar 2021 „Towards a pluralistic European culture of remembrance: Navigating the Narratives, Memories and Histories that shape European communities“

Radical diversity characterizes today’s European societies. This has repercussions for societies’ understanding of themselves, ranging from political ideas to forms of public memory and remembrance.

Cultures of remembrance are dynamic. They change over time, with new societal and political constellations. Who remembers when, where, and how, as well as whose remembrance is made visible thus plays a decisive role in determining the story a society tells about itself, about who belongs to its we. Cultures of remembrance, in religious and non-religious frameworks, are political as they make certain groups and their respective perspectives visible, while excluding other groups.

At heart of our work lies the conviction that those who seek to understand the present and the future through the lens of contemporary societies’ diversity must also tell a new story of the past. DialoguePerspectives’ participants with their diversity, multiplicity of voices, perspectives and expertise and their various moments of memory, located all over Europe are thus key contributors to a diversification of European remembrance cultures which is a prerequisite for the recognition of plural European societies. We want to recognize, strengthen and make visible the diversity of European moments of remembrance.

Addressing various aspects, chances and challenges of remembrance from an interdisciplinary perspective will open up the nagging questions of European plurality and pluralization. We invite our participants to join us in considering these questions, to develop ideas und visions for pluralistic remembrance culture, to experience European diversity, and to grapple with their own ambivalent perspectives.

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