Research seminar information
Time: Friday, 14.3.2025, 13:00-14:00 (UTC +2)
Place: Room 247 (2nd floor), Unioninkatu 33 (inner courtyard), you can also join in by Zoom, Passcode: 791038
How to Overcome an Unjust Past? Conflicts of Historicities in the Contemporary World
Abstract
This paper argues that conflicts of historicities – that is, competing conceptions of change over time – characterise twenty-first-century societies at their most profound level. These conflicts concern coexisting imaginaries, discourses, and practices that either implicitly entail or explicitly invoke competing notions of transitions from apprehended pasts to anticipated futures. To develop and illustrate this argument, the paper focuses on the conflicts surrounding public monuments that have sparked debates across the world in recent years. While colonial monuments have come under scrutiny and criticism in the Western world, communist monuments are being dismantled in Eastern Europe. Although both iconoclastic movements aim to rectify historical injustices, they embody two very different understandings of our relationship with the past. The paper proposes a conceptual framework to interpret these clashes surrounding monuments as conflicts of historicities. Demonstrations, whether in favour of or against the removal of public monuments, reflect divergent relations to the past and conflicting visions of desired futures.
About the speaker
Marek Tamm is Professor of Cultural History at the School of Humanities in Tallinn University. He is member of Estonian Academy of Sciences. He is also Head of Tallinn University Centre of Excellence in Intercultural Studies and of Estonian Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts. His research interests are at the intersection of cultural history of medieval Europe (incl. Livonia), cultural memory studies, historical theory and digital humanities (esp. digital medieval studies).
About this seminar series
The Spring 2025 Research Seminar Series by the Centre of Excellence in Law, Identity and the European Narratives at the University of Helsinki explores the concept of "the Other" in relation to Europe, examining the historical, cultural, economic, and political dynamics that have shaped European identity and its relationship with those perceived as outsiders. Delving into the notion of "Europe and its Others," the speakers include scholars, activists, and policymakers discussing how Europe has defined itself through contrasts with non-European cultures and ideologies as well as the "Others" within Europe.
The invited speakers in the series will explore how non-European regions have often reacted critically to Europe’s self-understanding as a bastion of democracy, rule of law and human rights. Through colonial legacies, economic inequalities, and political tensions, many regions have challenged Europe’s moral authority, bringing into question its universal claims of fairness and governance. The Research Seminar Series aims to challenge existing narratives, fostering dialogue on inclusion, exclusion, and the evolving understanding of belonging in a globalized world.