Between Mutual History and Conflict Identities / SOC

‘Are the Balkans still producing a surplus of history and why do our elites still see the past as a crucial field for identity policies?’ is another topic raised by the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, together with the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory from Belgrade, within the Fortress of Peace programme arch. The discussion will take place as part of the SOC Festival of Reconciliation in Fabrika on 26 June.

To what extent has the inability to communicate with the modern age conditioned the construction of a ‘more glorious’ past instead of a better future? Can narratives of common history and cultural closeness be useful, and are they the key to reconciliation in the Western Balkans or one of the main causes of new antagonisms?

Can history help, or is it an obstacle in overcoming ‘long shadows of the past’, and when will we get out of the ‘present’ in which we were mentally ‘frozen’ in the 1990s? What is the role of historical revisionism and whether historians themselves accept to be subordinated to political structures, instead of nurturing their science as an autonomous discipline? Is there a way out of the vicious circle of misunderstanding, injustice, and revenge in our region? Can remembrance help us in that, and can we constitute progressive remembrance in the function of humanism?

Panelists:

Prof. dr Dubravka Stojanović, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade

Dr Dragan Markovina, historian and independent researcher

Dr Ruža Fotiadis,research associate, Humbolt University Berlinu, Department of History of Southeast Europe

Prof. dr Adnan Prekić, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Montenegro

Moderator: Milivoj Bešlin

The programme is supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum.

Photo: Promo