Historians as Activists: History Writing in Times of War. The Case of Ukraine in 2014–2018
| Autor: | Yuliya Yurchuk |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
History
media_common.quotation_subject 05 social sciences Geography Planning and Development Media studies Opposition (politics) 050801 communication & media studies Context (language use) 06 humanities and the arts 060104 history Power (social and political) Politics 0508 media and communications State (polity) Political science Political Science and International Relations Agency (sociology) 0601 history and archaeology Narrative Popular history media_common |
| Zdroj: | Nationalities Papers. 49:691-709 |
| ISSN: | 1465-3923 0090-5992 |
| DOI: | 10.1017/nps.2020.38 |
| Popis: | This article elucidates the role of historians in times of war and the peculiarities of popular history narratives written by historians who became activists. The article focuses on historians who call themselves “Likbez. Historical Front.” This cohort gave rise to a new professional species—activist historians—who are different from so called memorians or propagandists, who work in service of authorities. Likbez historians tried to use their power to influence and promote their activist agenda not only in the realm of memory and history but also in reformation of state institutions. I argue that for Likbez historians, securitization of the past is the main strategy employed for producing historical knowledge. Historians’ work is a part of postcolonizing process observed in Ukrainian society since the Maidan protests. As the analysis shows, popular history narratives written with an open activist agenda are a result of many compromises made by scholars in the intersection of several factors: professional ambitions, political and civic aims, social and political context, popular expectations, and market environment. In line with the increased attention to agency in memory studies, this article demonstrates that historians have a much more nuanced relation to power than straightforward opposition or co-option. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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