Governing the memories of communism in Central and Eastern Europe: policy instruments and social practices

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis introduction scrutinizes the numerous studies that deal with the memory of communism in Central and Eastern Europe and it identifies two major fault lines. The first concerns the level of analysis. A large body of work favours top-down approaches and focuses on the institutions and policies that govern the communist past. Conversely, another set of studies opts for bottom-up approaches that address the social representations and practices related to that past. The second fault line concerns the conception of the presence of the communist past, regarded either as a permanent legacy from the past (primordialist perspective) or as an instrument mobilized for political aims (instrumentalist perspective). In order to bridge these divides, the authors advocate approaching memories through the public policy instruments that are designed and implemented to deal with the past. Adhering to the notion that policy instruments are not purely technical and neutral devices but in fact carry interpretations of the ‘problem’ to be solved, this approach offers insights into what constrains social practices linked to the communist past, and how individuals put up with these constraints.