MELA Researchers Present at Memory Studies Association Conference, Madrid

From June 25-28th, MELA Researchers Dr Uladzislau Belavusau, León Castellanos-Jankiewicz, and Dr Grażyna Baranowska participated in a panel at the Memory Studies Association Conference in Madrid, Spain. The conference, which was profiled in the Spanish national newspaper El Pais as the world’s most important event in memory studies, comes as Spain grapples with its own contested politics of memory, especially regarding the legacy of its Civil War.

The MELA-organised panel at the MSA Conference. From left to right, Benoit Vaillot, Dr Grazyna Baranowska, Dr Uladzislau Belavusau, Dr Marloes van Noorloos, and Dr Leon Castellanos-Jankiewicz.

The panel organised by the MELA Project, “The Rise of Memory Laws in Times of Contestation”, included presentations featuring a broad range of case studies. Dr Uladzislau Belavusau chaired the panel and acted as discussant. Dr Grażyna Baranowska presented “Genocide Denial and Beyond: Memory Laws in Turkey in Times of Re-narrating History”, concerning the increasing regulation of Turkish memory. Dr Leon Castellanos-Jankiewicz presented “The Soviet Contribution to the Prohibition of Genocide: Harmony or Contestation?”, a paper that challenges the conventional understanding of the Soviet “decisive contribution” to the Genocide Convention in the mid-twentieth century. Dr Marloes van Noorloos (Tilburg University) presented “Banning Expressions About Mass Atrocities in Past, Present and Future: a Closer Look at Dutch Developments”, investigating the Dutch approach to regulating expression of historical events. Finally, Benoit Vaillot (European University Institute) presented “From War Commemorations to Memory Laws: France Facing its Memory (19th-20th centuries)”, examining two hundred years of French memory regulation and their lasting influence on memory studies.