Date: December 2
Time: 18:00 – 20:00
Place: Faculty of History, Art and Regional Studies, Schillerstr. 6, room S 102
Repressed history, collective memory: struggles for recognition of violence in Japan, the USA and Germany
In this roundtable, three experts in the field of memory culture will discuss the ways in which states deal with historical crimes and the commitment of marginalized groups to recognition and justice. In their respective research contexts - be it the “comfort women” activism in the USA and Japan or the struggle for recognition of the colonial genocide against the OvaHerero and Nama in Germany - they address the question of how states deny or suppress responsibility for past violence and how marginalized groups fight against it. Mary McCarthy sheds light on the role of migrant communities in the USA, who use diasporic remembrance activism to assert their identity as a minority against the majority society. Tomomi Yamaguchi takes a critical look at the historical revisionist efforts in Japan to combat this activism. Sahra Rausch addresses the German refusal to legally recognize the genocide of the OvaHerero and Nama. Together, they reflect on the global parallels in the struggle for historical justice and remembrance.
Participants:
Mary McCarthy, PhD, Professor of Political Science at Drake University, USA
Tomomi Yamaguchi, PhD, Professor at Ritsumeikan University, Kyōto, Japan
Sahra Rausch, Dr., Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Moderation: Dorothea Mladenova., Leipzig University