Memory and Power in Post-War Europe: Studies in the Presence of the Past

by Jan-Werner Müller (Editor)

Overview

How has memory—collective and individual—influenced European politics in the aftermath of the Second World War and the Cold War? How has the past been used in domestic struggles for power, and how have 'historical lessons' been applied in foreign policy? This book is the first to examine the connection between memory and politics directly. The chapters combine theoretical innovation with historical, empirically-grounded case studies of major European countries. This ground-breaking book will be of interest to historians of contemporary Europe, political scientists and sociologists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521806107
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/29/2002
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.83(d)
Lexile:	1640L (what's this?)

About the Author

Jan-Werner Müller is a fellow at All Souls College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The power of memory, the memory of power and the power over memory Jan-Werner Müller; Part I. Myth, Memory and Analogy in Foreign Policy: 1. Memory of sovereignty and sovereignty over memory; Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine since 1939 Tim Snyder; 2. Myth, memory and policy in France since 1945 Robert Gildea; 3. The power of memory and memories of power: the cultural parameters of German foreign policy making since 1945 Thomas U. Berger; 4. The past in the present: British Imperial memories and the European Question Anne Deighton; 5. Memory, the media and NATO: information intervention in Bosnia-Hercegovina Monroe E. Price; 6. Europe's post-Cold War memory of Russia Iver B. Neumann; Part II. Memory, Power and Justice in Domestic Affairs: 7. The past is another country: myth and memory in postwar Europe Tony Judt; 8. The emergence and legacies of divided memory: Germany and the Holocaust after 1945 Jeffrey Herf; 9. Unimagined communities: the power of memory and the conflict in the former Yugoslavia Ilana R. Bet-El; 10. Translating memories of war and co-belligerency into Cold War politics: the Italian case Ilaria Poggiolini; 11. Institutionalizing the past: shifting memories of nationhood in German education and immigration policies Daniel Levy and Julian Dierkes; 12. Trials, purges or history lessons: treating a difficult past in post-communist Europe Timothy Garton Ash.

Editorial Reviews

"...an interesting, high-quality, challenging, and indispensable book. Reading it provides a genuine positively reinforcing intellectual adventure and a formidable learning experience." American Journal of Sociology

"...this impressive work is coherently organized and tightly argues." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History

From the Publisher