How societies remember, commemorate, and engage with their pasts is a complex and often contested process, lying at the heart of contemporary cultural and political life. Public history, as a field dedicated to mediating historical understanding beyond academia, plays a crucial role in navigating these dynamics. Based on a forthcoming edited volume, the roundtable presentations will delve into the multifaceted practices of public history, focusing particularly on the unique landscape of Central and Eastern Europe. By examining specific campaigns centered around historical “turning points,” we will explore how various actors—state and non-state alike—have shaped public memory and historical narratives in a region marked by profound transformations and competing interpretations of the past. A key observation emerging from these case studies will be the differing role of public historians or memory entrepreneurs. In the "West," they often act in opposition to the state, framing their work as resistance. Conversely, in Central and Eastern Europe, memory entrepreneurs often function as agents of, or collaborators with, the state, contributing to hegemonic mnemonic narratives and national identity projects. Our roundtable will explore a hypothesis that in this region, the boundaries between "history," "memory," and "public history" are particularly fluid, especially surrounding the commemoration of significant historical events.
20260730T110020260730T1230America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires5.1. From Memory Activism to Public History: Turning Points in Central and Eastern EuropeSV406 (ART)MSA Buenos Aires 2026buenosairesconference@memorystudiesassociation.org
