Internationale Konferenz
Victimhood - Acknowledgement - Politics of Memory: Struggling over the Memory of Suffering

Victimhood - Acknowledgement - Politics of Memory: Struggling over the Memory of Suffering

The second half of the twentieth century saw a change in the concept of victimhood in post-socialist and post-conflict countries. Although victims are often perceived through the prism of their trauma and passivity, attention is currently focused also on their active role in transitional justice and their social mobilization.

The goal of the interdisciplinary conference is to focus on victim associations in post-socialist countries in East-Central and East-Southern Europe. The presentations at the conference will focus on the role that victim organizations (of political prisoners, victims of the repression of state socialism) played after 1989, what were their goals and through which activities they wanted to achieve recognition and redress. With their contributions the participants aim to explore these organizations as participants in public life and the formation and maintenance of collective memory, as well as how these associations sought to emphasize and use or promote their collective memory and their interpretation of history in the political process and contribute to the democratization of society.

Online participation via zoom is possible for all registered attendees. Please register until 17 August 2024 by email to: klara.pinerova@tu-dresden.de.

Program:

TUESDAY, 3 September 2024

14:00-14:30 REGISTRATION AND WELCOME COFFEE

14:30-15:00 WELCOME AND OPENING

• Thomas Lindenberger (HAIT, Dresden), Jaromír Mrňka (German Historical Institute, Warsaw), Adéla Gjuričová (Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague)
• Opening remarks: Klára Pinerová (HAIT, Dresden)

15:00-16:00 KEYNOTE

• Mario Gollwitzer (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich): Psychologial Aspects of Victimhood and Victimhood Narratives and Their Role in Interpersonal, Intergroup and Societal Conflicts

16:00-18:00 PANEL 1: MEMORY AND POLITICS

• Chair: Thomas Lindenberger (HAIT, Dresden)
• Muriel Blaive (University of Graz, Graz): The Intricate Interplay among Ethical Standards, Governmental Expertise, and Victimhood Status: An Atypical Case
• Monika Nalepa (University of Chicago, Chicago) and Hanna Folsz (Standford University): Solidarity Members Interned during Martial Law: How Memories of Resistance and Imprisonment Transferred across Generations affecting Voting Behavior Today
• Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw): The Phenomenon of „Competeing Victimhood” in Poland and its Legal Implication

• Discussant: Friederike Kind-Kovács (HAIT, Dresden)
  
  

WEDNESDAY, 4 September 2024

10:00-12:00 PANEL 2: VICTIM ORGANISATIONS AS ACTIVE ACTORS

• Chair: Maren Hachmeister (HAIT, Dresden) Peter Jašek and Josef Halla (Nation‘s Memory Institute, Bratislava): Political Prisoners in Slovakia, their Organisations, Attitudes and Forms of Activity
• Martin Jander (FU Berlin) Union of Victims‘ Associations of Communist Tyranny (UOKG e. V.)
• Lavinia Stan (St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia): The Strategic Use of the Communist Past by Victims’ Organizations in Romania

• Discussant: Čeněk Pýcha (Charles University in Prague, Prague)
  

12:00-13:30 LUNCH

13:30-15:00 PANEL 3: COMPETITIVE; TRANSNATIONAL VICTIMHOOD AND INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION

• Chair: Udo Grashoff (HAIT, Dresden) Laure Neumayer (University de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens): Transnational Victims Activism: A Case Study of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience
• Klára Pinerová (HAIT, Dresden): Competitive Victimhood in Czechia and Germany: The Struggle for the Acknowledgment

• Discussant: Inge Melchior (Maastricht University, Maastricht)
  

15:00-15:30 COFFEE BREAK

15:30-17:30 PANEL 4: POLITICS OF MEMORY IN PUBLIC SPACE

• Chair: Klára Pinerová (HAIT, Dresden) Naum Trajanovski (University of Warsaw, Warsaw): Mainstreaming Victimhood: The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle in Skopje as a Platform (2006-2023)
• Michal Louč (Military History Institute, Prague): The Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners in Public Space
• Markéta Devátá (Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague): Prison as a Past, Resistance as a Memory? Politics of Memory and Memorial Sites of the Czech Confederation of the Former Political Prisoners

• Discussant: Lidia Zessin-Jurek (Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Prague, Prague)

THURSDAY, 5 September 2024

10:00-11:30 PANEL 5: NARRATIVES OF SUFFERING AND VICTIMHOOD IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE

• Chair: Michael Ulvr (TU Liberec, Liberec)
• Jessie Barton Hronešová (University College London): The Resonance of Victimhood as a Strategic Ontology in Serbia
• Jasna Dragovic-Soso (London School of Economics and Political Science, London) Victimhood Paradox: Narratives of Suffering Between Extreme Nationalism and Empathetic Reconciliation

• Discussant: Hana Bortlová (Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague)
  

11:30-12:00 FINAL DISCUSSION

Klára Pinerová (HAIT, Dresden)