Description
History and memory are core identity markers. They tell a story of how a country and the individual within it were formed, why they have and uphold particular values and shape the future trajectory of a nation. This story is often rewritten and repurposed to follow a particular narrative, which is deemed desirable by those involved in order to gain support for a cause, mobilise society, ignite particular feelings of nostalgia and foster patriotism within the country.. The Russian state’s story of its past is highly guarded, with any challenge of those narratives deemed a purposeful distortion of the past aimed to destroy Russia and its identity. This panel focuses on the increasing use and abuse of history in Russia’s political, media and educational landscape, ranging from the militarisation of youth and the use of the Orthodox Church, the deidentification of deported Ukrainian children; to civilizational and historical tropes in its relationship with China, and the use of memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis to teach history in schools, and the implications for Russian foreign policy..
