Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

Changing the State's Story: The Politics of the Past in Turkey and Japan

Open to the Public

What are the sources of change and continuity in states' narratives of past atrocities? In the past few decades, there has been a striking increase in demands for apologies for a variety of past wrongs, including genocide, mass killing, and ethnic cleansing. In response, some states have investigated and apologized for past crimes, while many others have continued to silence, deny, whitewash, and relativize dark pasts. This seminar investigates the sources of this variation, drawing on in-depth research into Turkey's narrative of the Armenian Genocide and Japan's narrative of the Nanjing Massacre to identify the processes that shape states' narratives of past atrocities, and how state actors negotiate between domestic and international demands in producing and maintaining such narratives.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi follows a Shinto priest toward the sanctuary of the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, Aug. 15, 2006. He prayed there to mark Tokyo's WWII surrender, defying protests by China but cheering his conservative followers.

About

What are the sources of change and continuity in states' narratives of past atrocities? In the past few decades, there has been a striking increase in demands for apologies for a variety of past wrongs, including genocide, mass killing, and ethnic cleansing. In response, some states have investigated and apologized for past crimes, while many others have continued to silence, deny, whitewash, and relativize dark pasts. This seminar investigates the sources of this variation, drawing on in-depth research into Turkey's narrative of the Armenian Genocide and Japan's narrative of the Nanjing Massacre to identify the processes that shape states' narratives of past atrocities, and how state actors negotiate between domestic and international demands in producing and maintaining such narratives.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.