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Through a comparative analysis of Germany and Russia, this paper explores how participation in the memorialization process affects and reflects national identity formation in post‐totalitarian societies. These post‐totalitarian societies face the common problem of re‐presenting their national character as civic and democratic, in great part because their national identities were closely bound to oppressive regimes. Through a comparison of three memorial sites—Sachsenhausen concentration camp...

Helga Schultz reconsidera la RDA y su forma nacional desde un punto de vista germano-oriental. Entiende la RDA como un intento de construir una peculiar nación socialista alemana, pero laimposibilidad de alcanzar esta aspiración es examinada junto con la sorprendente división entre ambas partes de la nueva Alemania «unida» y la nueva eínicizaci¿n de los alemanes del Este. El articulo revisa también la «sociedad obrera» socialista, como producto del socialismo real.

El Partido del Socialismo Democrático (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus), surgido de la descomposición interna del SED (Sozialistiscbe Einbeitspartei Deutschlands), es un caso relevante de adaptación de los partidos únicos en los regímenes comunistas a la democracia plurípar-tidista. Dadas las peculiaridades de la transición en la República Democrática de Alemania, acelerada por su rápida integración en la República Federal, el SED no tuvo la oportunidad de transformarse en una...

La movilización de todos los recursos durante la Guerra Civil Española alcanzó también el ámbito de la Cultura y la Gestión del Patrimonio. Si bien son más conocidas iniciativas relacionadas con el Museo del Prado o la Biblioteca Nacional, desde el principio se tuvo en cuenta la creación de un Archivo de la Guerra, donde se reunirían todos los testimonios escritos de todas aquellas unidades militares o asociaciones políticas que lucharon en defensa de la República. Este archivo, después de...

In Japan's case, there was hardly any awareness of the Nanjing atrocities in wartime, such sensibilities being deprived of fuel by censorship and overwhelmed by popular war fever and the desire to see Japan as the champion of international justice. The civil war with the Nationalists and the ensuing Cold War meant that PRC propaganda regarding Nanjing focused on Nationalist incompetence and US dastardliness, as in purported ulterior motives behind the establishment of the Nanjing safety zone for civilian Chinese.

This article contributes to the relational IR literature on identity politics and Sino-Japanese relations. Theoretically, we develop Rumelili's framework for studying modes of differentiation by incorporating the sectoral characteristics of key discourse signs. Empirically, we apply this framework to the construction of Self and Other in the official Japanese security discourse regarding the Senkaku Islands dispute from 2010–2014, a period of dispute climax that is meaningful for studying...

The centrality of atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japanese collective memory has been often perceived by the country’s neighbours, i.e. the People’s Republic of China and South Korea, as a pillar of the country’s (alleged) ‘victim consciousness’ and amnesia in regard to the suffering inflicted on others. For this reason, the matter of how Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s fate is discussed on the pages of joint teaching materials is an interesting puzzle. The article uses two...

Recent studies have increasingly argued that the Chinese leadership uses Japan’s imperialistic past as a tool for domestic and political bargaining. However, this argument fails to appreciate the embedded nature of negative memories within China. This article forwards an alternative argument by situating Japanese militaristic history within Chinese national identity. By examining a wide range of Chinese primary sources often underutilized by International Relations (IR) analysts, it moves...

On China's web, networked actors ranging from state agencies to private Internet users engage in highly active online discourse. Yet as diverse as this discourse may be, political content remains highly regulated, particularly on issues that affect the legitimacy of the ruling party. A prominent issue in this regard has been modern Chinese history, particularly the "national humiliation" that Japan inflicted on China's populace during events like the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. This article asks...

UNESCO’s ‘Memory of the World’ Programme promotes the preservation, universal access and public awareness of the world’s significant documents as the common heritage of all humankind. The inscription of the ‘Documents of Nanjing Massacre’ into the ‘Memory of the World’ Register in 2015 reflects an increasingly globalised concern in the post–Cold War era over the remembrance of war and atrocity. Yet it has reignited the tension between Japan and China, resulting in strong pressure on UNESCO to...

Beijing and Tokyo are currently involved in a zero-sum battle for soft power. Both governments are actively trying to shape how third party actors understand contested matters in their bilateral relationship. The dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands is the most obvious flashpoint in this ongoing struggle for hearts and minds. A soft power battle might seem like an innocent endeavour, but by entrenching enmity and legitimizing armed conflict, it might actually translate into one where hard...

For several decades, Japan kept in place significant self-imposed constraints on its security policy even as its economy grew tremendously. While it has been argued that Japan refrained from enacting security policy change because of strong domestic pacifist or anti-militarist sentiments, recently, radical policy changes have nonetheless taken place. How can these changes be understood? The existing explanations typically see them as a response to objectively existing or constructed external...

Why do interstate relations deteriorate and become conflictual, even under conditions where one might expect improved ties? The article seeks an answer to this question through a case study of the deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations in the twenty-first century, which took place despite the existence of several factors that might be thought likely to have led to an improvement. Existing theoretical approaches cannot fully explain this puzzle. The article argues that such deteriorations...

The past wrongdoings of states have received increased attention in recent years, resulting in calls for contrition and apologies. Most commentary has provided policy advice primarily on how former aggressors should handle such “history problems”. The present article, by contrast, draws on insights from research on recognition and ontological security to construct a framework for how external actors can use shaming and praising to influence the ways in which former aggressors deal with the...