EU Memory Politics and Europe’s Forgotten Colonial Past

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the European Union has started to enter a policy area that until then had been one of the exclusive prerogatives of the nation state: the public dealing with Europe's bloody past. Within a few years the European Parliament passed several resolutions dealing particularly with the commemoration of human rights violations that took place on the territory of the EU while the European Commission made several funding instruments available aimed at using the realm of memory as a mechanism of public sphere formation. While European efforts for transnational historical remembrance have focused almost exclusively on the Holocaust and National Socialism as well as Stalinism, the EU remains curiously quiet about the memories of imperialism and colonialism. This essay analyzes the conflictual memory constellations at the European level with the aim of explaining why European memory politics are characterized by a sustained focus on specific time periods on the one hand and amnesia on the other. By closely analyzing protocols of the European Parliament (EP), the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council and European Council meetings using frame analysis, the essay digs deep into the complex dynamics lying at the heart of memory contests within the EU and provides a differentiated view

Avrupa Birliği’nin Kaygı, Uyumsuzluk ve Emperyal Unutkanlığı

“…It's important to note, though, that the Conceptual Basis depicted imperialism and colonialism "exclusively in a positive light". 69 In the second, implementation stage, the concept was shaped by a wider group of academics with a more critical view of imposing a teleological narrative and a sense of collective identity in a top-down fashion. The concept also changed due to attempts to secure the support of socialist MEPs and those from the new Eastern European member states who challenged the singularity of the Shoah by portraying communism on a par with Nazism.…”

“…Instead of revealing the scale of atrocities, by placing these fragments on colonialism within the section on European ascendancy, as Sierp points out, the HEH suggests that colonialism was a beneficial part of Europe's development. 79 Also, restricting the story of colonialism to this section gives the visitors, as they are moving one floor up, the false impression that this chapter of European history was closed.…”

Mozambique: entre la narrativa histórica oficial y las memorias plurales

“…Como Aline Sierp destaca, assiste-se, no contexto Europeu, ao apagamento da memória sobre este período de tempo específico. Numa altura em que a questão colonial se tornou um espetro negativo no relacionamento com outros estados, as memórias do período colonial estão a ser permanentemente redirecionadas para um nível abstrato (Sierp, 2020). Esta ação permite, por exemplo, que as violações de direitos humanos feitas em nome dos colonizadores, não sejam tratadas.…”

“It’s Like Shouting to a Brick Wall”: Normative Whiteness and Racism in the European Parliament

“…Europe is frequently characterized as a continent that shies away from discussing racism (El-Tayeb 2011; Sierp 2020). Its history of colonialism, slavery, antisemitism, anti-Romanyism, and Nazism establishes a political context in which some countries deem it problematic to use the concepts of “race” and “racism.” Other countries consider themselves impartial observers, considering these issues irrelevant because “race” and “racism” do not exist inside their borders (Keskinen et al 2009).…”

“…urope is frequently characterized as a continent that shies away from discussing racism (El-Tayeb 2011;Sierp 2020). Its history of colonialism, slavery, antisemitism, anti-Romanyism, and Nazism establishes a political context in which some countries deem it problematic to use the concepts of "race" and "racism."…”