Illiberal Memory Politics

Abstract

Abstract This chapter conceptualizes the parameters of illiberal memory politics against the backdrop of its mirror notion—liberal memory politics—and its respective ethics. If memory politics is an unavoidable aspect of political life, its illiberal version has been pronounced a negative example of liberal memory. Commonly associated with the nationalization and centralization of historical research, restrictions on educational freedom and the advancement of “patriotic” history, and the delegitimization of competing mnemonical narratives—including the securitization of desirable perspectives on the past and the criminalization of undesirable ones—illiberal memory politics places restrictions on freedom of speech and historical research. The present conceptual work delineating the features, goals, and implications of illiberal memory politics is illustrated with examples from militant memory laws and policies in Eastern Europe, as well as contestations around the commemoration of settler colonialism and racist legacies in the United States and the United Kingdom.