Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena

Cultures of History Forum

Here we provide a preview of our latest publications. Follow this link to the Cultures of History Forum's website to get access to all our articles.


Mother Teresa Square in Skopje

Debating 20th Century History

The “Skopje 2014 project” at its Tenth Anniversary

A Story of Resilience

Naum Trajanovski ·


In September 2023, Skopje was named the 2028 European Capital of Culture alongside Bourges and České Budějovice. The news renewed a debate within North Macedonia about the capital city’s past, present, and potential futures. Common to all positions in the debate was that they referred, in one way or another, to the Skopje 2014 project. This article maps the latest critical events pertaining to this project and discusses its legacy after nearly fifteen years.

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statues of Red Army soldiers at the Antakalnis Military Cemetery in Vilnius

Politics of History

Lithuania’s Postcolonial Iconoclasm

or Politics by Other Means

Violeta Davoliūtė ·


The reaction of the Baltic states to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has been debated among academics as a 'postcolonial moment of sorts' as it triggered a new wave of anti-Soviet(Russian) iconoclasm across the region. The article focuses on the politics surrounding the latest wave of dismantling and renaming of monuments, public spaces and paradigms in Lithuania, discussing the arguments and actors involved as well as their motivations.

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Pro-Russian separatists occupying the building of the Donetsk Regional State Administration in 2014

Politics of History

Separatism and the Uses of the Past

Politics of History in the Self-Proclaimed Republics of Donbas

Alexandr Voronovici ·


What role do history and memory play in the war that Russia has launched against Ukraine, especially in the period prior to the full-scale invasion of the country in 2022? The article looks at the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk since 2014 and outlines what historical narratives have been forged by separatist leaders and how they were strategically used to mobilize people and consolidate power.

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