Blog

Teaching contested histories in Brazil: strategies and struggles to diversify the historical landscape of São Paulo

By Vinícius Borges Garcia Fonseca • 2023-11-27

Colonialism Racism Slavery Education

Public Hearing with Ana Laura’s Collective Mandate and the Front in Defence of African Peoples and Communities at São Paulo’s State Legislative House. Picture taken on October 24, 2023. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyw29A-tVCQ/?img_index=1. Interview conducted by Vinícius Borges Garcia Fonseca on May 11, 2023. DISCLAIMER: The following interview was conducted in… Read More

The Erosion of History: Climate Change and the Loss of Intangible Cultural Heritage

By Lily Harkes • 2023-10-18

Ongoing Climate Change

The threat of climate disaster and its physical impact on the global environment and human life are becoming increasingly more visible every day. Gradual changes in temperature, wind intensity, and sea level rise have increased the frequency of climate disasters, devastating physical infrastructure and human lives. Read More

Contested Murals in Belgrade, Partizan[1], ”Grobarski Trash Romanticism” and the ”JNA group”

By Hana Šuica • 2023-09-25

Artistic Intervention Sectarianism 449

Attitudes towards national history in Serbia represent an important aspect of everyone’s identity. It is understandable that historical and political figures stand out among the multitude of painted murals. They are increasingly present in public spaces, both on the facades of residential buildings and on public surfaces, such as communal… Read More

A Good Neighbour and a Good Ally? The Problem of Berlin’s Soviet War Memorials

By Abigail Osbourne • 2023-09-08

Ongoing Status Quo Authoritarianism

The largest Red Army memorial in the world stands 12 metres high at the centre of a popular city park. It includes Soviet flags carved in red granite, sixteen sarcophagi representing each of the Soviet Republics, and a quotation from Stalin declaring that ‘all now recognise that the Soviet people… Read More

What’s in a Name?

By Anna-Kirstie Ross • 2023-05-01

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Roman Rain Tree discusses on his campaign to rename the community of Squaw Valley (Now Yokuts Valley) Interview conducted by Anna-Kirstie Ross on March 24, 2023. The term ‘Squaw’ (hereafter Sq___) is widely considered as an offensive, derogatory, racist and misogynistic word used to refer to Native American women. In… Read More

#292

What does It take to Remember the Alamo?

By Ngoc Tram Nguyen • September 26, 2022

292

An interview with Kate Rogers, the Executive Director of Alamo Trust, Inc (ATI), the private 501(c)3 non-profit organisation in Texas that manages day-to-day operations and staff at the Alamo. Interview conducted by Ngoc Tram Nguyen, IHJR- EuroClio Research intern, Summer 2022; Harvard College Class of 2022 When Kate Rogers took… Read More

Bremen’s Elefant: Memorialisation, politics, and memory surrounding German colonialism

By Berklee Baum • March 25, 2022

Monument Colonialism Resolved 234

In 1932, German citizens gathered for the dedication of the Kolonialelefant in Bremen. The Bremen Colonial Society created this monument in memory of the German soldiers who died in the German colonies during the First World War. As well as to glorify colonialism and bolster the neo-colonial movement (after… Read More

Subverting the Historical Narrative: The Future of the Counter-Monument

By Ingrid Schreiber • 2022-01-19

Counter Monument

‘Honor history.’ Those were the words graffitied beside a toppled Madre Luz – or “Mother Light” – in Wyman Park Dell, Baltimore. Only a few days earlier, Pablo Machioli’s popular sculpture – which depicts a pregnant black woman, fist raised defiantly in the air – had been hoisted by protestors… Read More

#SmutsMustFall: The Forgotten Battle to Counter the Legacy of one of Apartheid’s Most Prominent Architects

By Cameron Scheijde • 2021-10-08

‘Churchill was a racist,’ read the hastily-daubed paint on the bottom of Parliament Square’s towering effigy to one of Britain’s most revered wartime icons, sparking fierce debate and controversy over how the UK views its complex and difficult past. Churchill’s statue, having been viewed for 50 years by most as… Read More

Introducing the New Contested Histories Branding

By Jade • 2021-10-01

Over the past few months, the Contested Histories team has been working with Carlos Marcelino to develop our new logo! We are over the moon with how it has turned out and it represents a crucial evolution for the Contested Histories project. In this post, we share our brainstorming,… Read More

Peru: The Battlefield of Memories

By Javier Lizarzaburu • 24 August 2021

#123 Memorial Ongoing Other

There is no monument more contested in Lima than El Ojo que Llora (The Eye That Cries). Almost from the beginning it has been opposed and vandalized. A few years ago, the serenity and beauty of the area, in one of the main parks in the city, was compromised when… Read More

Tribute to Edward Mortimer

By Contested Histories Initiative • 27 June 2021

The IHJR and the Contested Histories team mourn the loss of our dear friend and stalwart supporter, Advisory Board member, Edward Mortimer, CMG, a Distinguished Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, who passed away on June 18, 2021, at the age of 77. Edward had a long, distinguished career as… Read More