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The Historical Context of the Far-Right Revisionism

Workshop
Tatyjana Szafonova
Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 1:00 pm – Thursday, April 20, 2023, 5:00 pm

Organizers: Eszter Bartha (IAS CEU) and Tatyjana Szafonova (GIAS CEU)

Workshop and roundtable discussion:

19 April, 2023 - 17:00-19:00 

Round table: Revisionisms Revised 

 The current popularity of the Far Right in Europe is an alarming but sadly persisting trend. The workshop brings together social anthropologists, sociologists, and historians to discuss how to study the historical context of the Far-Right Revisionism and document the current popular responses to post-truth historical narratives. To what extent does the radical right appropriate or disrupt historical narratives through their forms of revisionism?  

 Participants: 

Péter Apor (Research Centre for the Humanities, ELKH, Budapest/Hungary) 

Juraj Buzalka (Comenius University, Bratislava/Slovakia) 

Gábor Egry (Institute of Political History, Budapest/Hungary) 

Klaus Neumann (Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur, Hamburg /Germany)  

 Moderators:  

Tatyjana Szafonova (Institute for Advanced Study, CEU, Budapest/Hungary) 

Balázs Trencsényi (Democracy Institute, Budapest/Hungary) 

19:00-20:00 Reception  

20:00-21:00 “Turan Road Music” free jazz project, concert 

Sound experiments and music based on social anthropological fieldwork conducted in Central Asia.  

Musicians:  Balázs Pándi  (drums) /Géza Fábri (cobza) /Ernő Rubik (electric piano) /Coordinator: István Sántha 

20 April 2023

Workshop: The Historical Context and Impact of the Far-Right Revisionism

The current popularity of the Far Right in Europe is an alarming but sadly persisting trend. The workshop brings together social anthropologists, sociologists, and historians to discuss how to study the historical context of the Far-Right Revisionism and document the current popular responses to post-truth historical narratives. To what extent does the radical right appropriate or disrupt historical narratives through their forms of revisionism?

While historical accounts were usually constructed by intellectuals affiliated with scientific institutions, recently we see the rise of populist "histories" which often falsify, outwrite, or attack scientifically grounded theories. This proliferation of alternative histories reflects a changing social context. For example, this process is related to the general shift of the working class from the left to the right of the political spectrum. The Far-Right advocates express persistent interest in history, especially various forms of Revisionism.

The Far-Right sympathizers and supporters create multiple versions of historical events and conspiracy theories. This new Revisionism plays a significant role in identity politics that have challenged the previous class politics. The workshop aims to approach from interdisciplinary perspectives such questions as: Why did revisionism become a popular form of the ideological articulation of the Far-Right? Why do historical and pseudo-historical arguments replace traditional political debates? How are the Far-Right revisionisms connected with regional mobilization strategies, and international connections of various Far-Right groups?

The workshop will consist of 4 panels: Revisionism and the War in Ukraine; Revisionism and Populism; Revisionism in Labour History; Re-enacting Revisionism in Hungary

Selected papers presented at the workshop will be published in a thematic issue of the Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe.

Participation by invitation only. Please register until 12 April at szafonovat@ceu.edu. For additional information please contact: Eszter Bartha (barthae@ceu.edu) and Tatyjana Szafonova (szafonovat@ceu.edu)