Dziedzictwo konfliktu klasowego a lokalna polityka pamięci

Abstract

The conceptual framework of “difficult heritage” was developed in studies concerning various forms of collective violence. This article is grounded on the assumption that it can also be applied in the context of socio-economic inequalities, since under the hegemonic dominance of interpretations of the past that conform to the interests of the elite, the experiences of subordinated categories become “troublesome.” As such, stories of both oppression and emancipation are forgotten or neutralized. From this perspective, the mechanisms of obscuring and mainstreaming of collective interests and related conflicts as elements of “legitimate” history seem particularly interesting. Drawing on the notions of agonistic memory and museum as agonistic space, the author analyses the permanent exhibition at the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź, reinterpreting the local history of industrial development. The paper aims to determine the place of industrial conflict in the narrative of the history of an industrial city. It is organized around three questions. First of all, what aspects of industrial relations are discussed in the museum narrative? Are they framed mostly by structural determinants or rather presented as individual and collective experience? Secondly, how are these relations contextualized? And thirdly, which modes of narrative are engaged? And is the conflict between workers and those in charge of the means of production a moral or rather a socio-political issue?