Organizations

Network for Migration and Culture
http://migrationandculture.ku.dk/

Network for Migration and Culture: The Interrelations of Migration, Culture and Aesthetics (NMC) is a national/ international network funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research (Forskningsrådet for Kultur og Kommunikation) and is scheduled to run for two years from August 2011 to December 2013. The network is a development and internationalisation of the Netværk for kulturvidenskabelige migrationsstudier initiated in 2010.


Mnemonics: Network for Memory Studies
http://www.mnemonics.ugent.be/

Mnemonics: Network for Memory Studies is a collaborative initiative for graduate education in memory studies between the Danish Network for Cultural Memory Studies; the Swedish Memory Studies Network; and programmes at Ghent University (Belgium); Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany); Goldsmiths, University of London (UK); the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA); and Columbia University (USA, associate partner). The network was launched at a meeting at the Flemish Academic Centre for Science and the Arts (VLAC) in Brussels on 14 October 2011.


Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability
http://hrcolumbia.org/ahda

The Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability (AHDA) is a convening body which aims to facilitate exchange among scholars, advocates, and organizations dedicated to historical dialogue and accountability.

Based at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) in New York, AHDA brings together academics, representatives of civil society organization, journalists, educators and artists as well as policy makers who all pursue historical dialogue in conflict, post-conflict and post-dictatorial societies. They address the political ramifications of the historical legacy of conflicts, as well as the role and impact of the memory of past violence on contemporary politics, society and culture. These ramifications often continue to haunt contemporary societies and the memories that shape the identities of protagonists in numerous conflict and post-conflict countries around the world. AHDA builds networks and facilitates comparative as well as interdisciplinary dialogue among its members.


The Politics of Building Peace
http://www.uni-marburg.de/konfliktforschung/personal/buckley-zistel/dfg_tj

The aim of The Politics of Building Peace is to analyse under which conditions the peacebuilding tools transitional justice, reconciliation initiatives and unification policies consolidate sustainable peace after violent, civil conflict. Through asking what politics operate behind these tools and if, and how, they change the relationship between the parties to the conflict from antagonism to acceptance, it contributes to the discipline of peace studies where it can be categorised under critical or post-positive approaches.


Building Democracy and Justice After Conflict
http://cigj.anu.edu.au/democracy/about/index.php

This Australian Research Council-funded research project aims to analyse the theory and practice of building the structures for democracy and justice after conflict. It is interested in work done by international institutions and also attempts at state-building outside international institutions.
A major strand in this project is the potential contribution of international law to the democracy-building enterprise. The project will consider the application of regulatory theory to this area, and also devise practical strategies to assist democracy-building.
The aims of the project are to:
-Identify and analyse the elements of the current international legal framework regulating governance and the protection of human rights in post-conflict states
-Assess the effect of attempts to promote democracy and human rights in a series of case studies
-Develop new theoretical models for understanding the impact of international law after conflict
-Elaborate proposals for strengthening the international legal basis of democratic governance and human rights structures.
Many issues remain contested in this area of international law. For example, can an international definition of democratic governance be devised? Should there be a ‘two track’ conception of governance: a minimalist one for unstable states and a substantive one for more secure societies? Can democracy be imposed in an undemocratic way? Is transitional justice a matter of international or purely local concern? Are international legal norms likely to be of value in societies dealing with the aftermath of conflict?
Another innovation of this project is its attention to questions of sex and gender in the definition and treatment of ‘outsider’ states in international law and the lives of their inhabitants.

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International interdisciplinary research group: Damnatio memoriae – Deformation and Counter-construction of memory in History Art and Literature.

The international interdisciplinary research group Damnatio memoriae – Deformation and Counter-construction of memory in History, Art and Literature is to be founded in short at the historic Seminar of Zurich University. The main aim is to bring together researchers of different disciplines and fields and represents the first platform of its kind for scientific trans-disciplinary exchange in on these matters in all historical epochs. In order to connect researchers there will be regular newsletters and regular meetings. The main aim of the research group will be the scientific effort to find new approaches to the phenomenon of deformation and counter-construction of memory in history, art and literature. Being on the alert in respect to intentional deformations of traditions, and in awareness of methodical difficulties, the participants of the working group will receive impulses for their own research and their access to their material. Above that, it is the aim to clarify terminology of individual disciplines, combine and reflect various approaches and continue the development of methods on adequate material. The resulting concepts will lead to a new understanding of active forgetting within the theoretical debate of memory-studies as an important field of cultural sciences.
Membership is open for all persons interested in the subject. To become a member it is enough to write informally to the board and be inserted in the list of members: info@damnatio-memoriae.net. Members will receive the newsletter and references to conferences, new publications and co-operations. It is planned to have conferences,round-tables as well as exchange via internet. Seat of the research group is the Historisches Seminar of Zurich University, presided by Gerald Schwedler (Zürich).

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Reverberations of War in Germany and Europe since 1945
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ces/research

This collaborative project analyses reverberations of the Second World War across Europe through the Cold War and beyond. It hopes to shed new light on the complex legacies of war for generations of Europeans, and, through coordinated in-depth studies, develop a new theoretical approach. It is generously funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for the period 2010-2014.
‘Reverberations of war’ are complex and multi-facetted, not always adequately captured by a concentration on ‘collective memory’. This project focuses on four inter-related themes, selected because each intrinsically connects a later present to a difficult past: reckoning, reconciliation, reconstruction and representation. These are often in some tension with one another: a search for ‘reckoning’, for example, may preclude openness to overtures of reconciliation. Each of these terms implies – despite the linguistic connotations of ‘return’ – an attempt to build anew out of the ruins, under changed later circumstances. Such attempts are coloured by later social, political, and also emotional and cultural contexts, in which imaginative engagements in film and literature play a powerful role in shaping aspirations and perceptions; hence the involvement of literary scholars as well as historians in the project.
The project challenges collective memory approaches that assume lines of continuity between earlier ‘communities of experience’ and later ‘communities of remembrance’. By contrast, we seek to explore the relationships between ‘communities of experience’ and later ‘communities of identification’, which may not be closely related to communities of origin. The focus is also shifted from the nation state ‘container’ of remembrance practices to a comparative and trans-national European level of shifting identifications.
A part of the project entails inter-disciplinary collaboration with colleagues across Europe, including a series of informal workshops and international conferences.

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Proyectos fotográfico-históricos sobre pasado reciente del Uruguay. Centro de Fotografía.
http://www.montevideo.gub.uy/fotografia/archivo/pasado_rec/pasado.html

El Centro de Fotografía pertenece a la Intendencia de Montevideo (Uruguay) y se dedica a la conservación y difusión del partimonio fotográfico. Entre sus múltiples actividades y propuestas, desarrolla una línea de trabajo que apunta a enriquecer la memoria visual del período del autoritarismo y la dictadura en Uruguay (1968-1985). En este marco, se han recuperado varios archivos fotográficos de la época y se generaron imágenes contemporáneas que evocan ese pasado. En esta sección del sitio web del Centro de Fotografía puede verse parte de ese trabajo, difundido a través de  muestras fotográficas, publicaciones y audiovisuales.

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Memory at War
http://www.memoryatwar.org/

‘Memory at War’ is an international collaborative project investigating the cultural dynamics of the ‘memory wars’ currently raging in Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Employing a collaborative methodology grounded in the analytical and critical practices of the humanities, the project seeks to explore how public memory of twentieth-century traumas mediates the variety of ways in which East European nations develop in post-socialist space.

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Eugenics and Restorative Justice. The Politics of Reparations for Involuntary Sterilization in Germany, the Czech Republic and Norway

http://www.erj-projekt.uni-hannover.de/

The focus of this project  lies on the question of whether and how democratic societies such as Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic deal with the biopolitical foundations of eugenic sterilisation programms of their past, particularly on the politico-social dynamics that foster or impede processes of coming to terms with the past and the implementation of reparations.

International Center for Transitional Justice
http://www.ictj.org/

A New York-based research centre that “works to redress and prevent the most severe violations of human rights by confronting legacies of mass abuse.” ICTJ’s research is aimed at providing knowledge and advice to the major stakeholders working on behalf of victims. Though not explicitly designed for academics, the ICTJ website has the latest updates on transitional justice issues and in-depth analyses of specific case studies. Of particular interest to some may be the section on Courses and Fellowships as the centre offers a range of courses and fellowships for academics and students.

Centre for Popular Memory
http://www.popularmemory.org.za
The Centre for Popular Memory (CPM) is an oral history based, research, advocacy and archival centre located at the University of Cape Town. We record and disseminate peoples’ stories to expand the democratizing possibilities of public history. The CPM trains students and organizations in oral/ visual history research, theory and forms of public representation; and runs a publicly accessible multi-lingual archive that contains over 3000 hours of audio and video.

The Centre for the International Politics of Conflict, Rights and Justice
http://www.conflictrightsjustice.org/
The Centre for the International Politics of Conflict, Rights and Justice at SOAS promotes individual and collaborative research projects on the international politics of human rights, aid and humanitarianism, religion, transitional justice, and civil liberties especially as they relate to conflict and post-conflict situations.

The Archival Platform
http://www.archivalplatform.org/
The Archival Platform is a non-profit initiative established under the auspices of the University of Cape Town and the Nelson Mandela Foundation to play a catalytic role in the way in which practitioners, theorists and the general public think about the archive and the ways in which archiving is practised in South Africa.

Centre for Transitional Justice
http://www.politicalscience.uwo.ca/tjcentre/index.html
The Centre for Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction was established in late 2009.  It brings together experts from across the Western community whose teaching and research focuses on issues including reconciliation, criminal accountability, post-colonial legacies, legal reconstruction, the environment, human rights, economic justice, healing circles, democratization, and more.

Memoria Abierta
this site also connects to memory and justice sites and initiatives throughout Latin America
http://www.memoriaabierta.org.ar/principal.php

Museo de la Memoria of Rosario, Argentina
a national museum of memory
http://www.museodelamemoria.gob.ar/

Villa Grimaldi
a Chilean national site of historic memory
http://www.villagrimaldi.cl/

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Websites and resources

Transitional Justice in Brazil
http://transitionaljusticeinbrazil.com/
“Transitional Justice in Brazil” is a blog supported by the CELT program at Tulane University and administered by Professors Rebecca Atencio and Nina Schneider and Tulane undergraduates Allison Fisher, Engram Wilkinson, and Robyn Smith.

Transitional Justice Database Project
http://www.tjdbproject.com/
A global data base of over 900 mechanisms (trials, truth commissions, amnesties, reparations, and lustration policies) used from 1970-2007. The main task of the project is to better understand how these mechanisms are used and whether they work, with the ultimate goal of improving policy.

Memoria Viva
http://www.memoriaviva.com
A digital Chilean archive

Memory & Justice Website
http://www.memoryandjustice.org
Run by the ICTJ, this website aims to provide “a public space to debate and discuss how to memorialize past human rights abuse so that it will never again occur.” Discussions include topics such as “Do multiple narratives enhance or hinder a memorial’s meaning?” and “Should a site’s original elements be preserved at all costs?” See the resources section for links to relevant articles and websites.

The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
http://www.sitesofconscience.org/
Founded and formerly known as the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums, this site profiles historic sites specifically dedicated to remembering past struggles for justice and addressing their contemporary legacies. The Coalition provides member sites with direct funding for civic engagement programs; organizes learning exchanges ranging from one-on-one collaborations to international conferences; and conducts strategic advocacy for sites and the Sites of Conscience movement.

Justice in Perspective
http://www.justiceinperspective.org.za/
A website that provides updates and resources on truth commissions and “alternative forms of inquiry into the past.” This is an excellent first resource for the various truth commissions, past and present, across the globe.

Online Encyclopaedia of Mass Violence
http://www.massviolence.org/
A peer-reviewed online resource documenting acts of mass violence from different regions and different periods in history. See the sections “Scholarly Reviews” and “Theoretical Papers” for overviews of theoretical and methodological developments in this area of study.

Insight on Conflict
http://www.insightonconflict.org/
An up-to-date resource that provides information on peacebuilding organisations in current areas of conflict such as Palestine, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, etc.

International Justice Tribune
http://www.rnw.nl/international-justice/article/international-justice-tribune-no-97
A bi-weekly online magazine of Radio Netherlands Worldwide on international criminal justice. See their blog and subscribe to their monthly newspaper for updates.

Memory at War
http://cambridgeculturalmemory.blogspot.com
This blog is part of the transnational and transdisciplinary project Memory at War: Cultural Dynamics in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. The blog seeks to serve as an interactive site for students and scholars across disciplines who are interested in ‘controversies of memory’ and the cultural practices of mourning and commemoration in Eastern Europe.

Open Democracy Russia
http://www.opendemocracy.net/russia
OpenDemocracy Russia publishes high quality news analysis, debates and blogs about the world and the way we govern ourselves. openDemocracy is committed to human rights and democracy. We aim to ensure that marginalised views and voices are heard. We believe facilitating argument and understanding across geographical boundaries is vital to preventing injustice.

Cultures of Remembrance
www.cultures-of-remembrance.net
The Cultures of Remembrance website is maintained by the German Topography of Terror Foundation. It provides information about memorials, museums and institutions that commemorate the victims of Nazi Germany, as well as about country-specific policies regarding public memory.

Memorial Museums Database
www.memorial-museums.net
This website provides a comprehensive list of institutions, memorials and museums dedicated to the commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust. It is maintained by the Topography of Terror Foundation. For a German version of the site, see www.gedenkstaetten-uebersicht.de

Gedenkstaetten Forum
www.gedenkstaettenforum.de
This is a German website with information about events and publications related to the memorialisation of the Holocaust in Germany. It has a news section with links to relevant articles from the German-language media. Users are invited to contribute to a blog. The site is maintained by the Stiftung Topographie des Terrors (Topography of Terror Foundation).

Las Politicas de la Memoria
http://www.politicasdelamemoria.org/
This is a website dedicated to gathering and publicizing information on the impact of ten years of exhumations of mass graves dating from Spanish Civil War. The website is connected with the project “Las Politicas de la Memoria: Balance de exhumaciones en España” of the Centro de Ciencias Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and the Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. You can find out more about the project, subscribe to the RSS feed, and read about recent events and publications in both English and Castellano via the website.

Heritage Museums and Memorialisation in Kenya
http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-centre/memorialisation/index.html
This site celebrates research on contemporary heritage developments in Kenya, with some comparative reference to South Africa.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has a mandate to learn the truth about what happened in the residential schools and to inform all Canadians about what happened in the schools. The Commission will document the truth of what happened by relying on records held by those who operated and funded the schools, testimony from officials of the institutions that operated the schools, and experiences reported by survivors, their families, communities and anyone personally affected by the residential school experience and its subsequent impacts.

Memoria Abierta

Memoria Abierta, coordinated action of human rights organizations, works to raise social awareness and knowledge about state terrorism in order to enrich democratic culture. One of the organization’s primary objectives is to make accessible all documentation regarding the last military dictatorship for the purposes of research and the education of future generations. This site also connects to memory and justice sites and initiatives throughout Latin America.

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Online Networks

Peace and Collaborative Development Network http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/
This is an excellent networking site which intends to “foster dialogue and sharing of resources in international development, conflict resolution, gender mainstreaming, human rights, social entrepreneurship and related fields.” Because it has over 15,980 members, this site is always updated. Noteworthy sections include the site’s blog network and the forums section. See, in particular, the “Scholarship, Fellowship Opportunities and Academic Programs.

African Transitional Justice Research Network
http://www.transitionaljustice.org.za
The ATJRN site is similar to that of the ICTJ, but with a special emphasis on African transitional justice issues such as the Rwandan genocide and the violence in Southern Sudan. Although not as frequently updated as the ICTJ site, the ATJRN has important research resources such as a newsletter and a moderated discussion forum (currently down).

“German Memory Studies Network”
(facebook group)
The Interdisciplinary Committee of the German Studies Association (GSA) has created a new network devoted to Memory Studies. We invite you to become a part of our network and participate in this new intellectual venture in interdisciplinarity. The network will generally serve as a venue for the exchange of ideas, but it will also be a place for the proposal and discussion of possible themes for future panels on Memory Studies at upcoming GSA conferences. To join up, please contact any of the network coordinators or go to the newly-created facebook group, “German Memory Studies Network” and register today!
Contact:
Carol Anne Costabile-Heming costabilec1@nku.edu;Irene Kacandes  irene.kacandes@dartmouth.edu; Gavriel Rosenfeld grosenfeld@fairfield.edu

H-Memory
http://www.h-net.org/~memory/
H-Memory is a discussion network open to all academics and researchers concerned with Memory Studies. This inter-disciplinary field interests itself in how humans remember and represent that memory, be it through literature, monuments, historical works, or in their own private lives.

Refugee Research Network
http://www.refugeeresearch.net/
A network created for scholars, practitioners, and policy makers interested in refugee and forced migration issues. The network is not just designed to generate information, but to facilitate the ties among researchers through the creation of a “virtual research community.” This network has a particularly strong educational component. See the education tab for links to recommended undergraduate programs, Masters Programs, and PhD programs focusing on refugee issues. You may also want to participate in the various short online courses run by the network.

Advocacy Organisations

Argentina | Bosnia and Herzegovina | CanadaIndonesia | The Netherlands | PhilippinesRomania | Russia | Spain | Turkey | United States |

Argentina

Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo – http://www.abuelas.org.ar

Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos – http://www.apdh-artntina.org.ar

Asociación de ex-Detenidos Desaparecidos – http://www.exdesaparecidos.org.ar

Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo – http://www.madres.org

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales – http://www.cels.org.ar

Familiares de Desaparecidos y Detenidos por Razones Politicas –
http://www.desaparecidos.org/familiares

HIJOS (Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio
http://www.hijos.org.ar

Instituto Espacio Para La Memoria – http://www.institutomemoria.org.ar

Liga Argentina por los Derechos del Hombre – http://www.liga.org.ar

Madres de Plaza de Mayo Linea Fundadora – http://www.madresfundadoras.org.ar

Memoria Abierta – http://www.memoriaabierta.org.ar

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Grupa Spomenik http://grupaspomenik.wordpress.com/

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Canada

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=26

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Indonesia

KOMNASHAM (National Commission of Human Rights) –
http://www.komnasham.go.id/portal

ELSAM (Institute for Research and Advocacy for Society) –
http://www.elsam.or.id/new/index.php

SYARIKAT (Santri Society for People’s Advocacy) – http://www.syarikat.org

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The Netherlands

Network of Concerned Historians –
http://www.concernedhistorians.org/content/home.html

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Philippines

Bantayog ng mga Bayani – http://bantayog.wordpress.com/

Task Force Detainees of the Philippines – http://www.tfdp.net/

Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines – http://www.chr.gov.ph/

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Romania

Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania – http://www.iiccr.ro/

Sighet Memorial – http://www.memorialsighet.ro/

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Russia

Memorial International Historical-Enlightenment, Human Rights and Humanitarian Society – http://www.memo.ru/eng/index.htm

The Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Center: ‘Peace, Progress, Human Rights’ – http://www.sakharov-center.ru/en/

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Spain

Association for the Recuperation of Historical Memory (Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica) – http://www.memoriahistorica.org.es/

Foro por la Memoria – http://www.foroporlamemoria.info/

Todos Los Nombres – http://www.todoslosnombres.org/

Amical de Mauthausen Organization – http://www.amical-mauthausen.org/

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Turkey
Haf?za Merkezi – http://www.hakikatadalethafiza.org/

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United States

Mississippi Truth Project – http://www.mississippitruth.org/

Network for Migration and Culture
http://migrationandculture.ku.dk/

Network for Migration and Culture: The Interrelations of Migration, Culture and Aesthetics (NMC) is a national/ international network funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research (Forskningsrådet for Kultur og Kommunikation) and is scheduled to run for two years from August 2011 to December 2013. The network is a development and internationalisation of the Netværk for kulturvidenskabelige migrationsstudier initiated in 2010.


Mnemonics: Network for Memory Studies
http://www.mnemonics.ugent.be/

Mnemonics: Network for Memory Studies is a collaborative initiative for graduate education in memory studies between the Danish Network for Cultural Memory Studies; the Swedish Memory Studies Network; and programmes at Ghent University (Belgium); Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany); Goldsmiths, University of London (UK); the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA); and Columbia University (USA, associate partner). The network was launched at a meeting at the Flemish Academic Centre for Science and the Arts (VLAC) in Brussels on 14 October 2011.


Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability
http://hrcolumbia.org/ahda

The Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability (AHDA) is a convening body which aims to facilitate exchange among scholars, advocates, and organizations dedicated to historical dialogue and accountability.

Based at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) in New York, AHDA brings together academics, representatives of civil society organization, journalists, educators and artists as well as policy makers who all pursue historical dialogue in conflict, post-conflict and post-dictatorial societies. They address the political ramifications of the historical legacy of conflicts, as well as the role and impact of the memory of past violence on contemporary politics, society and culture. These ramifications often continue to haunt contemporary societies and the memories that shape the identities of protagonists in numerous conflict and post-conflict countries around the world. AHDA builds networks and facilitates comparative as well as interdisciplinary dialogue among its members.


The Politics of Building Peace
http://www.uni-marburg.de/konfliktforschung/personal/buckley-zistel/dfg_tj

The aim of The Politics of Building Peace is to analyse under which conditions the peacebuilding tools transitional justice, reconciliation initiatives and unification policies consolidate sustainable peace after violent, civil conflict. Through asking what politics operate behind these tools and if, and how, they change the relationship between the parties to the conflict from antagonism to acceptance, it contributes to the discipline of peace studies where it can be categorised under critical or post-positive approaches.


Building Democracy and Justice After Conflict
http://cigj.anu.edu.au/democracy/about/index.php

This Australian Research Council-funded research project aims to analyse the theory and practice of building the structures for democracy and justice after conflict. It is interested in work done by international institutions and also attempts at state-building outside international institutions.
A major strand in this project is the potential contribution of international law to the democracy-building enterprise. The project will consider the application of regulatory theory to this area, and also devise practical strategies to assist democracy-building.
The aims of the project are to:
-Identify and analyse the elements of the current international legal framework regulating governance and the protection of human rights in post-conflict states
-Assess the effect of attempts to promote democracy and human rights in a series of case studies
-Develop new theoretical models for understanding the impact of international law after conflict
-Elaborate proposals for strengthening the international legal basis of democratic governance and human rights structures.
Many issues remain contested in this area of international law. For example, can an international definition of democratic governance be devised? Should there be a ‘two track’ conception of governance: a minimalist one for unstable states and a substantive one for more secure societies? Can democracy be imposed in an undemocratic way? Is transitional justice a matter of international or purely local concern? Are international legal norms likely to be of value in societies dealing with the aftermath of conflict?
Another innovation of this project is its attention to questions of sex and gender in the definition and treatment of ‘outsider’ states in international law and the lives of their inhabitants.

back to top


International interdisciplinary research group: Damnatio memoriae – Deformation and Counter-construction of memory in History Art and Literature.

The international interdisciplinary research group Damnatio memoriae – Deformation and Counter-construction of memory in History, Art and Literature is to be founded in short at the historic Seminar of Zurich University. The main aim is to bring together researchers of different disciplines and fields and represents the first platform of its kind for scientific trans-disciplinary exchange in on these matters in all historical epochs. In order to connect researchers there will be regular newsletters and regular meetings. The main aim of the research group will be the scientific effort to find new approaches to the phenomenon of deformation and counter-construction of memory in history, art and literature. Being on the alert in respect to intentional deformations of traditions, and in awareness of methodical difficulties, the participants of the working group will receive impulses for their own research and their access to their material. Above that, it is the aim to clarify terminology of individual disciplines, combine and reflect various approaches and continue the development of methods on adequate material. The resulting concepts will lead to a new understanding of active forgetting within the theoretical debate of memory-studies as an important field of cultural sciences.
Membership is open for all persons interested in the subject. To become a member it is enough to write informally to the board and be inserted in the list of members: info@damnatio-memoriae.net. Members will receive the newsletter and references to conferences, new publications and co-operations. It is planned to have conferences,round-tables as well as exchange via internet. Seat of the research group is the Historisches Seminar of Zurich University, presided by Gerald Schwedler (Zürich).

back to top


Reverberations of War in Germany and Europe since 1945
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ces/research

This collaborative project analyses reverberations of the Second World War across Europe through the Cold War and beyond. It hopes to shed new light on the complex legacies of war for generations of Europeans, and, through coordinated in-depth studies, develop a new theoretical approach. It is generously funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for the period 2010-2014.
‘Reverberations of war’ are complex and multi-facetted, not always adequately captured by a concentration on ‘collective memory’. This project focuses on four inter-related themes, selected because each intrinsically connects a later present to a difficult past: reckoning, reconciliation, reconstruction and representation. These are often in some tension with one another: a search for ‘reckoning’, for example, may preclude openness to overtures of reconciliation. Each of these terms implies – despite the linguistic connotations of ‘return’ – an attempt to build anew out of the ruins, under changed later circumstances. Such attempts are coloured by later social, political, and also emotional and cultural contexts, in which imaginative engagements in film and literature play a powerful role in shaping aspirations and perceptions; hence the involvement of literary scholars as well as historians in the project.
The project challenges collective memory approaches that assume lines of continuity between earlier ‘communities of experience’ and later ‘communities of remembrance’. By contrast, we seek to explore the relationships between ‘communities of experience’ and later ‘communities of identification’, which may not be closely related to communities of origin. The focus is also shifted from the nation state ‘container’ of remembrance practices to a comparative and trans-national European level of shifting identifications.
A part of the project entails inter-disciplinary collaboration with colleagues across Europe, including a series of informal workshops and international conferences.

back to top


Proyectos fotográfico-históricos sobre pasado reciente del Uruguay. Centro de Fotografía.
http://www.montevideo.gub.uy/fotografia/archivo/pasado_rec/pasado.html

El Centro de Fotografía pertenece a la Intendencia de Montevideo (Uruguay) y se dedica a la conservación y difusión del partimonio fotográfico. Entre sus múltiples actividades y propuestas, desarrolla una línea de trabajo que apunta a enriquecer la memoria visual del período del autoritarismo y la dictadura en Uruguay (1968-1985). En este marco, se han recuperado varios archivos fotográficos de la época y se generaron imágenes contemporáneas que evocan ese pasado. En esta sección del sitio web del Centro de Fotografía puede verse parte de ese trabajo, difundido a través de  muestras fotográficas, publicaciones y audiovisuales.

back to top

Memory at War
http://www.memoryatwar.org/

‘Memory at War’ is an international collaborative project investigating the cultural dynamics of the ‘memory wars’ currently raging in Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Employing a collaborative methodology grounded in the analytical and critical practices of the humanities, the project seeks to explore how public memory of twentieth-century traumas mediates the variety of ways in which East European nations develop in post-socialist space.

back to top


Eugenics and Restorative Justice. The Politics of Reparations for Involuntary Sterilization in Germany, the Czech Republic and Norway

http://www.erj-projekt.uni-hannover.de/

The focus of this project  lies on the question of whether and how democratic societies such as Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic deal with the biopolitical foundations of eugenic sterilisation programms of their past, particularly on the politico-social dynamics that foster or impede processes of coming to terms with the past and the implementation of reparations.

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