Koposov on memory, history, and law

Nikolay Koposov, Emory University, has published Memory Laws, Memory Wars: The Politics of the Past in Europe and Russia with Cambridge University Press. From the publisher:

Laws against Holocaust denial are perhaps the best-known manifestation of the present-day politics of historical memory. In Memory Laws, Memory Wars, Nikolay Koposov examines the phenomenon of memory laws in Western and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, and Russia and exposes their very different purposes in the East and West. In Western Europe, he shows how memory laws were designed to create a common European memory centred on the memory of the Holocaust as a means of integrating Europe, combating racism, and averting national and ethnic conflicts. In Russia and Eastern Europe, by contrast, legislation on the issues of the past is often used to give the force of law to narratives which serve the narrower interests of nation states and protect the memory of perpetrators rather than victims. This will be essential reading for all those interested in ongoing conflicts over the legacy of the Second World War, Nazism, and communism.

Here is the Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• 1. The rise of memory and the origins of memory laws
• 2. Memory laws in Western Europe
• 3. Memory laws in Eastern Europe
• 4. Memory laws in Ukraine
• 5. Memory laws in Yeltsin's Russia
• 6. Memory laws in Putin's Russia
• Conclusion

Further information is available here.