Vortrag
Political polarisation, liberal democracy and organisations of political prisoners

The characteristic feature of post-communist countries is that populism and illiberal tendencies stem also from their communist heritage which has transformed into a strong anti-communist narrative and polarising politics of memory, which may affect political and economic stability. The polarised narrative has penetrated into society in various ways, among others through special memory groups. After 1989, organisations of political prisoners in Czechia and Germany appeared on the political scene as distinct and powerful memory associations whose radical anti-communist worldview influenced various societal groups. While these organisations are rightly understood as legitimate representatives of victims and their claims, their influence on democratic political developments can be controversial, to say the least. Their activities on the one hand helped society cope with the difficult past, but on the other brought to public space a polarized narrative. The paper describes the role of organisations of political prisoners in Czechia and Germany in transitional justice after 1989, especially in the crisis of democratic development.

Der Vortrag ist Teil der Konferenz „Crisis, Junctures, and Breaking Points: Understanding, Contextualizing, and Overcoming Crisis as Discourse”.