17. December 2024

As human beings, we experience our reality as an interplay between the memory of what was and the expectation for what is to come. We derive our self-understanding – who we are – from this interaction. Therefore, we speak of Cultural and Collective Memory.

The publication combines academic and practical articles based on concrete examples. From colonial amnesia in the European Union’s trade agreements with the Global South to critical remembrance in European citizenship education and the fight against the mafias, we learn more about contested remembrance cultures. While violence, grief, trauma and oppression are at the forefront of collective remembrance, the Educational Briefing also gives examples for the empowering side of remembering.

Rather than promoting a simplified or standardized European memory, the briefing advocates for multidirectional memory, encouraging dialogue and the coexistence of different perspectives. Citizenship education which encourages the critical reflection and contextualization of history can help to create a shared European culture of remembering.