Interwar Period 2.0? History as a Resource in European Conflicts of Interest around Diversity and Integration: An Introduction to the Debate
Interwar Period 2.0? History as a Resource in European Conflicts of Interest around Diversity and Integration: An Introduction to the Debate

Summary/Abstract: In the context of the current European and global crisis that we see unfolding on multiple fronts, outlined by catch phrases like “Ukraine-Russia conflict,” “European Union crisis” and “the rise of political populism,” international attention is also focusing on the post-Socialist states of Eastern Europe. Over the last few years, we have observed the election of right-wing, populist parties in these countries and a tendency towards the erosion, in some cases even the usurpation, of constitutional institutions at the hands of democratically elected governments and their patronage-based networks. Accompanying this process has been a trend to fall back on former historical models of patriotic mobilization and social integration. At the same time, however, East European societies can be seen to differ significantly from one another when examined more closely. Do these references to historical resources, such as the political policies and tools familiar to us from the interwar period, really have the potential to bring about lasting change within the political system of a country in the 21st century? The editors of JECES have invited historians from several East and East Central European countries to lead this debate.

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