Memory Studies in Eastern Europe: Key Issues and Future Perspectives

The paper addresses selected issues of the recent growth in Eastern European memory studies: It identifies the unconscious Western imperialism within the recently institutionalized interdisciplinary field of memory studies; Then, it offers arguments for historical sociology in memory studies, and proceeds to critically analyze the recent growth of transnational historical inquiries into European memory and the place within these studies of the research on Eastern Europe. Finally, it raises the theoretical issue of a region as one possible framework of memory and a terrain for legitimate sociological inquiry fuelled by historical data. As such, it serves as an introduction to the current PSR volume on theoretical traditions and propositions for Eastern European memory studies.