Volume 64, Issue 2

The article is a reassessment of the aftermaths of the events of 1989 in (South-) Eastern Europe. It supplements the well-worn debate pitting civil vs. uncivil society with examinations of the role nationalism has played in the formerly socialist bloc and of the (self-) identification practices within the region’s societies. Here I map the various postcommunist legacies that have affected the region’s countries. Grand explanations of the upheaval of 1989 tend to obscure and simplify the continuities that have extended beyond this threshold year. Common trends within the region, which often remain hidden in the long shadow of 1989, may explain contemporary tensions between the revival of civic mobilization and the rise of populism. I conclude that only by clearing history’s debris — from before and after 1989 — will we understand the nature and identity of the ‘we’ who claim, contest, or (increasingly seldom) celebrate this annus mirabilis .

This article addresses the re-negotiation of national belonging among Yugoslav immigrants in (West) Berlin before and during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. By analysing the content of a radio show produced for Yugoslavs living in Berlin, I discuss the context and changing nature of representations of ethnic solidarities. I aim to debunk approaches that — in accordance with the concept of ‘long-distance nationalism’ — argue that Yugoslav immigrants were rapidly nationalized while living abroad. Instead, I suggest a rather ambiguous picture that accounts for the conflicting and often contradictory discourses of belonging as well as the various actors involved. By the end of the 1980s matters of national belonging had become intertwined with questions of democratic legitimacy, gradually leading to an endorsement of an ethnic framing of the Yugoslav crises. The ‘nationalization’ of the ‘Yugoslav community’, I argue, was a contested process that gained a foothold as violence raged in Yugoslavia. Coping with the consequences not least the massive influx of refugees into Germany, the radio programme became complicit in the making of national diaspora communities.

Since its rightward political shift, questions concerning how Hungarian society has reflected on the role the country played during the Second World War and how it has confronted its co-responsibility for the Holocaust in particular have been raised with new urgency. After introducing some of the central divisive issues in the interpretation and commemoration of the Holocaust in Hungary, the author analyses current trends based on a case study of the Holocaust’s 70 th anniversary. The article assesses the sustained attempts of reinterpreting the recent past of the country in the name of a renewed national canon.

After the fall of communism educational policy in Romania was called upon to ‘shake up’ the communist heritage and effectively translate European and international prerogatives into the national context there. The main focus of this article then is the educational reforms occurring since the Ceauşescu era. The author examines key vectors of educational policies by analysing the discourse of officials from the international organisations UNESCO, OECD, ILO, and the Council of Europe and that of policy makers and educational actors from the European Union and Romania. Her threefold approach highlights the persistence of communist heritage and the scope of European mimicry, as she shows that corruption, nepotism, and favouritism are among the most common features of Romanian educational policy. She uncovers too a lack of perspective, with a mimetic reproduction of external standards, and absence of landmarks, no team-work and poor organisation of debate, all in a climate of political instability.

This article analyses the interpretations and symbolic markers of the ‘new’ memory created in the Republic of Macedonia in the past few years. The question the authors raise concerns how images of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have been thematized or, likely, left to disappear into oblivion. Analysis of post-1991 historiography and history textbooks in Macedonia suggests that the main waves of change in the historical narrative have all followed the same general lines although not simultaneously. There have been other, minor factors, but the major changes in both domains have been related to the independence of the country, its aspirations to join the EU, and the rise of nationalism.

Greece’s education system lags behind those of other European countries. Its two overarching problems, which encompass many others, are (a) the incompatibility of school knowledge and societal needs, and (b) the low performance of public schools. Because of these inadequacies, there exists a ‘shadow education system’ of private cramming courses preparing students for the required qualifications for university admission. Despite recurring criticisms from international organizations, the relative position of Greece to other countries has not improved. This paper addresses why there has been no improvement so far despite Greece’s use of available resources and expertise supplied by the EU. To explain why there has been no change, the authors trace the Greek system’s problems to historical antecedents and examine the political and social forces resisting educational change at present.