Twenty Years After Communism
The Politics of Memory and Commemoration
Edited by Michael Bernhard and Jan Kubik
Reviews and Awards
"An incisive and timely anthology... this volume represents an original and worthy contribution on account of its advancing of theory in 'memory studies', the rich empirical data, and its contribution to democracy studies." --German Politics
"Remembering a nation's past shapes its future. We should know this in our bones, but thanks to Bernhard, Kubik, and their contributors, we have both theory and method to approach it analytically across the world, and inspired empirical studies of the post-communist world. One of the best volumes I have read in years. It is required reading for those who want to understand how cultural politics matter." --Michael D. Kennedy, Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Brown University
"In contrast to most studies of collective memory, which usually focus on one or a small handful of cases, Twenty Years After Communism systematically compares 17 cases of Eastern European memory of 1989. In order to do so, it develops a rigorous theoretical framework for studying 'official memory' in postcommunist countries. Both its conceptual introduction and the individual chapters mark a significant advance in social scientific memory studies and in understanding of this crucial region. It is sure to be a landmark volume." --Jeffrey K. Olick, Professor of Sociology and History, University of Virginia
"'Memory studies' has become a crowded area of scholarship, with much rather sentimental work and too many books mechanically reproducing existing approaches. This volume is different: it offers an original theory of 'memory regimes' and uses it to compare the commemorations of 1989 across Central and Eastern Europe. The resulting chapters are a treasure trove of insights into the political cultures of post-communist countries." --Jan-Werner Müller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University
"This volume [is] a seminal original contribution that shows the relevance of the politics of memory and commemorations to post-communist politics and democratisation processes, and may also be read with profit by scholars of Eastern Europe from disciplines neighbouring political science." -- Europe-Asia Studies
"The editors' bold theoretical framework, clear methodology, and precise research questions thoroughly infuse each of the ten chapters on the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 revolutions in seventeen post-communist countries. All in all, the book not only focuses on mnemonic issues but also presents a broader panorama, spanning two decades, of political processes, identity formation, and nation-building in Central and Eastern Europe." -- Ab Imperio
"Bernhard, Kubik and their contributors have produced a major contribution to the study of memory politics in Central and Eastern Europe. Twenty Years After Communism deserves not only to be remembered in two decades' time, but should be on the shelves of all scholars of the region who need to incorporate an understanding of the role of the past into their analysis of the present." -- East European Politics
"This volume has much to offer to media and communication scholars, especially those interested in developing comparative research on issues of cultural politics and commemoration." -- European Journal of Communication
"[A] particularly stimulating work." -- Revue d'études comparatives Est-Ouest
